# temple

Pronunciation: say "TEM-puhl" /ˈtɛmp(ə)l/

## Noun

1. 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.
   - Simple: A building or place where people worship a god or gods, or that they treat as holy.
   - _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._
2. The slightly flatter area on each side of the head, behind the eye and above the cheekbone, just in front of the ear.
   - Simple: The flat part on each side of your head, between your eye and your ear.
   - _The doctor pressed gently on each temple to check for tenderness._
   - _Sweat trickled from his temples as he finished the last mile._
3. 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.
   - Simple: A place or thing people treat as almost holy, such as the main center of an activity or something carefully cared for.
   - _The old recording studio is considered a temple of jazz._
   - _For chess masters, that quiet hall was a temple of strategy._
4. Either of the side arms on a pair of glasses that extend back from the hinge toward the ears, usually curving down around them.
   - Simple: One of the two side arms on a pair of glasses that reach back to rest on your ears.
   - _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._
5. A hand gesture in which the forefingers are extended and pressed tip to tip while the remaining fingers are clasped together.
   - Simple: A hand shape made by touching the tips of both pointer fingers together while folding the rest.
   - _The interviewer leaned back, fingers forming a temple, and weighed the answer._
   - _Making a temple with his hands, the professor paused before replying._

## Verb

6. To build or dedicate a temple in honor of a god. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To give a god a temple, or build one in their honor.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A meeting house of the Oddfellows fraternity, or the body of members belonging to it.
- (noun) A device fitted to a loom to keep the woven cloth stretched out widthwise during weaving.

## Origin

**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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/temple (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).