temporal

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛm.pə.ɹəl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmpəɹəl

Etymology 1

From Middle English temporal, temporel (“transitory, worldly, material, of secular society”), from Old French temporel or Latin temporālis (“of time (in grammar), temporary, relating to time as opposed to eternity”), from tempus (“time, period, opportunity”) +‎ -ālis.

Adjective

temporal (not generally comparable, comparative more temporal, superlative most temporal)

1. (relational) Of or relating to the material world, as opposed to sacred or clerical.

   temporal power, temporal courts

   The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled (The official title of the House of Lords)

   Synonyms: secular, lay, civil

   Antonyms: spiritual, ecclesiastical

   • 1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, page 252:

     The [papal] train was in use until 1871, when the Pope [Pius IX] lost his temporal power.

   • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England, Penguin Books, page 166:

     Not long before, he had ruefully acknowledged in a letter to his pious mother that most of his appointments to the bench of bishops had been motivated by distinctly temporal impulses.

2. (relational) Relating to time:
   1. Of limited time, transient, passing, not perpetual, as opposed to eternal.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 4:18:

        The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

      1. (euphemistic) Lasting for a short time only.
   2. Of or relating to time as distinguished from space.
   3. Of or relating to the sequence of time or to a particular time.

      Synonym: chronological

   4. (grammar) Relating to or denoting time or tense.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

temporal (plural temporals)

1. (chiefly in the plural) Anything temporal or secular; a temporality.
   • 1684, John Dryden, The History of the League, translation of Histoire de la Ligue by Louis Maimbourg:

     for God's people love always to be dealing as well in temporals as spirituals

1. • 1876, James Russell Lowell, “Dante”, in Among My Books. Second Series., Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 30:

     He assigns supremacy to the pope in spirituals, and to the emperor in temporals.

Etymology 2

Middle English, from Middle French timporal, temporal, from Late Latin temporālis, from tempora (“the temples of the head”) +‎ -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of temporalis.

Adjective

temporal (not comparable)

2. (anatomy, relational) Of or situated in the temples of the head or the sides of the skull behind the orbits.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

temporal (plural temporals)

1. (anatomy) Ellipsis of temporal bone.
2. (zootomy) Any of a reptile's scales on the side of the head between the parietal and supralabial scales, and behind the postocular scales.

References

• “temporal”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “temporal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “temporal”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin temporālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)
• Rhymes: -al

Noun

temporal m (plural temporals)

1. storm

Adjective

temporal m or f (masculine and feminine plural temporals)

1. temporary
2. temporal

Derived terms

• lòbul temporal
• temporalment

Related terms

• temps

Further reading

• “temporal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “temporal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “temporal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “temporal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Cimbrian

Noun

temporàl m

1. (Luserna) thunderstorm

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter , Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

French

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin temporālis, from tempus (“temple”) (whence tempe).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɑ̃.pɔ.ʁal/

Adjective

temporal (feminine temporale, masculine plural temporaux, feminine plural temporales)

1. (anatomy) temporal

   lobe temporal ― temporal lobe

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with temporel.

Derived terms

• os temporal

Further reading

• “temporal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Galician

Etymology

13th century. Borrowed from Latin temporālis, from tempus (“time”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛmpoˈɾal/

Adjective

temporal m or f (plural temporais)

1. temporal, pertaining to time
2. temporal, transient, as opposed to eternal
3. temporal, pertaining to the temples of the head
4. (grammar) of a grammatical case in Hungarian

Derived terms

• temporalmente

Noun

temporal m (plural temporais)

1. (weather) rainstorm

   Synonyms: ballón, invernada

2. (weather) windstorm

   Synonym: vendaval

3. (weather) tempest

   Synonym: tempestade

Noun

temporal m (plural temporais)

1. (anatomy) the temporal bone

References

• “temporal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “temporal” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “temporal” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “temporal” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “temporal” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛmpoˈʁaːl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

temporal (strong nominative masculine singular temporaler, not comparable)

1. temporal

   Synonym: zeitlich

Declension

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin temporālis, from Latin tempus (“time”).

Adjective

temporal (neuter singular temporalt, definite singular and plural temporale)

1. temporal (related to time)
2. temporal (related to the temples)

Derived terms

• temporalia

Related terms

• temporær

References

• “temporal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “temporal” in The Ordnett Dictionary

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: tem‧po‧ral

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin temporālis (“temporal”), from tempus (“season, time, opportunity”), from Proto-Indo-European *tempos (“stretch”).

Adjective

temporal m or f (plural temporais, not comparable)

1. temporal (relating to time)

   Synonym: crónico

2. secular

   Synonym: secular

Derived terms

• atemporal

Related terms

Etymology 2

From tempo (“weather”).

Noun

temporal m (plural temporais)

1. downpour; heavy rain

   Synonyms: tempestade, vendaval

Etymology 3

From têmpora (“temple of the head”).

Noun

temporal m (plural temporais)

1. temporal bone

Hypernyms

• osso

Holonyms

• crânio

Coordinate terms

• occipital, parietal, frontal, esfenoide, etmoide

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French temporel.

Adjective

temporal m or n (feminine singular temporală, masculine plural temporali, feminine and neuter plural temporale)

1. temporal (bone)

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin temporālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tempoˈɾal/
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: tem‧po‧ral

Adjective

temporal m or f (masculine and feminine plural temporales)

1. temporal (of or relating to time)
2. temporary

   Synonym: temporario

3. (anatomy) temporal (of the temples of the head)

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

temporal m (plural temporales)

1. storm

   Synonyms: tempestad, vendaval

Derived terms

Further reading

• “temporal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014