/ English Dictionary |
TEMPLE
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(Judaism) the place of worship for a Jewish congregation
Synonyms:
synagogue; tabernacle; temple
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("temple" is a kind of...):
house of God; house of prayer; house of worship; place of worship (any building where congregations gather for prayer)
Domain category:
Judaism (the monotheistic religion of the Jews having its spiritual and ethical principles embodied chiefly in the Torah and in the Talmud)
Instance hyponyms:
Temple of Jerusalem; Temple of Solomon (any of three successive temples in Jerusalem that served as the primary center for Jewish worship; the first temple contained the Ark of the Covenant and was built by Solomon in the 10th century BC and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC; the second was built in 515 BC and the third was an enlargement by Herod the Great in 20 BC that was destroyed by the Romans during a Jewish revolt in AD 70; all that remains is the Wailing Wall)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Place of worship consisting of an edifice for the worship of a deity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("temple" is a kind of...):
house of God; house of prayer; house of worship; place of worship (any building where congregations gather for prayer)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "temple"):
joss house (a Chinese temple or shrine for idol worship)
pagoda (an Asian temple; usually a pyramidal tower with an upward curving roof)
pantheon ((antiquity) a temple to all the gods)
Instance hyponyms:
Artemision at Ephesus (the large temple of the Greek goddess Artemis which was begun at Ephesus in 541 BC and completed 220 years later; the temple was destroyed by the Goths in 262)
Parthenon (the main temple of the goddess Athena; built on the acropolis in Athens more than 400 years B.C.; example of Doric architecture)
Mormon Tabernacle; Tabernacle (the Mormon temple)
Temple of Artemis (a large temple at Ephesus that was said to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An edifice devoted to special or exalted purposes
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("temple" is a kind of...):
building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)
Meronyms (parts of "temple"):
column; pillar ((architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure)
entablature ((architecture) the structure consisting of the part of a classical temple above the columns between a capital and the roof)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "temple"):
ziggurat; zikkurat; zikurat (a rectangular tiered temple or terraced mound erected by the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The flat area on either side of the forehead
Example:
the veins in his temple throbbed
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("temple" is a kind of...):
feature; lineament (the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose and mouth and chin)
Holonyms ("temple" is a part of...):
caput; head (the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains)
Context examples:
Catherine, supposing some uneasiness on Captain Tilney's account, could only express her concern by silent attention, obliged her to be seated, rubbed her temples with lavender-water, and hung over her with affectionate solicitude.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Anne haggard, Mary coarse, every face in the neighbourhood worsting, and the rapid increase of the crow's foot about Lady Russell's temples had long been a distress to him.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
I could almost hear the beating of my own heart; and the blood surging through my temples sounded like blows from a hammer.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Martin's fists were tight-clenched, and his blood was drumming in his temples.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
His cheeks were red, his brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his temples with passion.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
His heavily thatched eyebrows covered quick, furtive grey eyes, and his gaunt features were hollowed at the cheek and temple like water-grooved flint.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The largest of three branches of the trigeminal nerve containing both sensory and motor neurons that project to the tongue, the lower face, lip, teeth and gums as well as the temple and external ear.
(Inferior Maxillary Nerve, NCI Thesaurus)
Tom, however, had no mind for such treatment: he came home not to stand and be talked to, but to run about and make a noise; and both boys had soon burst from her, and slammed the parlour-door till her temples ached.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
He appeared about fifty years of age, but with an aspect expressive of the greatest benevolence; a few grey hairs covered his temples, but those at the back of his head were nearly black.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
She had depended on a twilight walk to the Grecian temple, and perhaps all over the grounds, and an evening merely cold or damp would not have deterred her from it; but a heavy and settled rain even SHE could not fancy dry or pleasant weather for walking.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)