temperament
temperament Lexical Profile
temperament Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person's or animal's innate nature, disposition, or habitual emotional constitution, especially as it permanently affects their behavior.
"Golden retrievers are widely prized as family pets because of their gentle and patient temperament."
A tendency to exhibit sudden, intense, or unpredictable changes in mood; excitability or volatility.
"The acclaimed conductor was known as much for his artistic temperament as for his brilliant interpretations of Mahler."
The adjustment of intervals in tuning a piano or other fixed-pitch musical instrument so as to fit the scale for practical use in different keys.
"Bach composed The Well-Tempered Clavier to demonstrate the musical possibilities of keyboard tuning systems using equal or well temperament."
Word Nuance & Usage
While 'temperament' is a neutral noun describing a person's baseline disposition, its derivative adjective 'temperamental' usually carries a negative connotation of being moody, volatile, or easily irritated.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Latin 'temperamentum' ('proper proportion or mixture'), from 'temperare' ('to mix properly' or 'to moderate'). In medieval physiology, a person's character was believed to be determined by the specific mixture of the four bodily humors.