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Webster 1913 Edition

(kŏn-tĕm′pẽr)

Verb.

[L.

contemperare

-temperatum

;

con-

temperare

to temper. Cf.

To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate; to soften.

[Obs.]

The antidotes . . . have allayed its bitterness and

contempered

its malignancy.

Johnson.

Verb.

[L., to mix or temper. See Temper.] To moderate; to reduce to a lower degree by mixture with opposite or different qualities; to temper.

The leaves qualify and contemper the heat.