Temperament is a person’s natural disposition or character, including tendencies in mood and behavior. It also refers to the balance of humors in historical medicine or the overall mood of a piece of music. In everyday use, it often means someone’s typical emotional style or temperament in a given situation.
"Her sunny temperament makes her a pleasure to work with."
"The orchestra adjusted the tempo to match the conductor’s temperament for the finale."
"Historical texts discuss the four temperaments: choleric, melancholic, sanguine, and phlegmatic."
"She showed a calm temperament under pressure, even in a crisis."
Temperament comes from the Middle French temperament, from Latin temperamentum, which meant a proper mixture or proportion, especially of parts or humors. The Latin root temperare means to regulate, mix, or restrain, and is related to Greek temnein “to cut.” In ancient medical theory, temperament referred to the balance of bodily humors (blood, bile, phlegm) believed to determine personality and health. By the 16th–17th centuries, the term broadened to describe a person’s characteristic mood or disposition rather than just medical balance. In music, temperament evolved to describe slight intentional adjustments in tuning among equal temperament systems to accommodate harmonies. The word entered English with early use in the 14th–15th centuries, gradually acquiring the modern sense of “mood or character” alongside the more technical medical and musical senses. Over time, temperament also came to denote a person’s natural, enduring way of reacting to situations, distinct from immediate mood. Today, it maintains both psychological and cultural connotations and appears in phrases like “temperament and temperament management.”
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Words that rhyme with "Temperament"
-ent sounds
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Pronunciation: TEM-pə-rə-ment. Primary stress on the first syllable. IPA: US /ˈtɛm.pə.rə.mənt/, UK /ˈtem.pə.rə.mənt/. Start with a clear short /e/ as in “tem,” then a schwa or near-schwa in the middle syllables, finishing with /mənt/. Tip: keep the middle syllables light; the strong beat lands on TEM. See audio benchmarks in credible dictionaries for full reference.
Common mistakes include over-adding emphasis to the second syllable (tem-PER-ə-ment) and running the sequence together as ‘temperAment’ with a strong final extra syllable. Correct by using a light, unstressed middle syllable: TEM-pə-rə-ment. Also avoid pronouncing the final /t/ as a strong stop for some speakers; a lighter /nt/ is typical in rapid speech. Practice with slow, isolated syllables first, then blend.
In US, you’ll hear /ˈtɛm.pə.rə.mənt/ with a rhotic R and a relatively stronger /ə/ in the second syllable. UK tends to pronounce /ˈtem.pə.rə.mənt/ with a slightly crisper initial vowel and less pronounced /ə/ in some speakers. Australian follows similar to UK but with a broader /æ/ occasionally in the first syllable in informal speech. Overall, rhythm remains trochaic; the initial syllable is stressed across all regions.
The difficulty often lies in the three-syllable rhythm with a light, weak second and third syllable, and the quick neutral schwa sounds in -per- and -ment. The sequence TEM-pə-rə-ment requires precise timing to avoid sounding like TEM-per-ment or tem-PE-ruh-ment. Paying attention to the unstressed syllables and using subtle alveolar taps for the final -ment can help. IPA cues: /ˈtɛm.pə.rə.mənt/ (US/UK/AU).
The primary stress sits on the first syllable (TEM). The second and third syllables are unstressed, which can lead to over-articulation if you’re not careful. Ensure you don’t give extra weight to -per- or -ment segments. A quick exercise is to say TEM-pace-ment in a relaxed tempo, then gradually align to TEM-pə-rə-ment with natural speed.
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