temple

TEM-puhl/ˈtɛmp(ə)l/

8 meanings of temple

1
nouncountable
A building used for the worship of a god or gods, or a place regarded as sacred. This includes a synagogue and a Latter-day Saint building for sacred rites.
Pilgrims climbed the steps to the temple dedicated to the sun god.
Ancient Greek temples often housed a towering statue of the deity worshipped there.
UsageOften the temple of a god (the temple of Zeus), or a temple dedicated to a god.
Similarshrine, sanctuary
Note
It reaches well beyond the classical world: Donald R. DeGlopper's "Religion and Ritual in Lukang" (1974) counts 39 temples in one Taiwanese town. Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh houses of worship are commonly called temples too, the Golden Temple at Amritsar among them.
2
side of headnouncountable
The slightly flatter area on each side of the head, behind the eye and above the cheekbone, just in front of the ear.
The doctor pressed gently on each temple to check for tenderness.
Sweat trickled from his temples as he finished the last mile.
UsageOften temples for both sides (rub your temples), and left temple or right temple for one.
Note
Because the region comes in pairs, the plural is common: the King James Bible of 1611 has the nail driven "into his temples." Headaches are often felt there, which is why people press or rub their temples when one comes on.
3
nounfigurativelycountable
A place or thing regarded with great reverence, especially one seen as a center devoted to a particular activity or one tended with devoted care.
The old recording studio is considered a temple of jazz.
For chess masters, that quiet hall was a temple of strategy.
UsageUsually a temple of something, as in a temple of jazz.
Similarshrine, mecca

Less common meanings

4
glasses armnouncountable
Either of the side arms on a pair of glasses that extend back from the hinge toward the ears, usually curving down around them.
The right temple of his glasses had a small crack near the hinge.
These frames have spring-loaded temples that flex outward for a comfortable fit.
Similararm
Note
The spectacle arm takes its name from the side of the head it runs along, and the two share an origin. In the eyewear trade temple is the precise term where everyday speech says arm or sidepiece. Like the head's temples, they come in pairs, and frames are described by their temples: spring-hinged, straight, or curving down behind the ear.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The spectacle-arm and anatomical senses share an origin; the arm is named for the head region alongside it. en.wiktionary.org
Spectacle temples come in pairs. en.wikipedia.org
5
hand gesturenounfigurativelycountable
A hand gesture in which the forefingers are extended and pressed tip to tip while the remaining fingers are clasped together.
The interviewer leaned back, fingers forming a temple, and weighed the answer.
Making a temple with his hands, the professor paused before replying.
Similarsteeple
6
verbraretransitive
To build or dedicate a temple in honor of a god.
though the Heathen (in many places) Templed and adored this drunken God
1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine
Similarenshrine
Note
The verb takes the honored god as its object, not the building. Owen Feltham's Resolves (1623) has the Heathen who "templed and adored this drunken God," pairing it naturally with verbs of worship. It inflects regularly: templed, templing. Its sense is to house a deity in a temple, and by extension to raise that deity to worship.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Owen Feltham wrote Resolves, first published in 1623. celm.folger.edu
Resolves contains the quoted words about the Heathen; this is Feltham's prose, and templed is coordinated with adored. archive.org
7
noun
A meeting house of the Oddfellows fraternity, or the body of members belonging to it.
8
noun
A device fitted to a loom to keep the woven cloth stretched out widthwise during weaving.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1, 3, 5–6

Latin templum ("shrine, temple, area for auspices") was borrowed into Old English as templ or tempel and became Middle English temple. Old High German tempal ("temple") is a separate borrowing of the same Latin word.

Meanings 2, 4

Latin tempus ("temple, head, face") had the plural tempora ("the temples"), which led to Vulgar Latin *temp(u)la, Old French temple, and Middle English temple.