n. [ OE. templere, F. templier, LL. templarius. See Temple a church. ] 1. One of a religious and military order first established at Jerusalem, in the early part of the 12th century, for the protection of pilgrims and of the Holy Sepulcher. These Knights Templars, or Knights of the Temple, were so named because they occupied an apartment of the palace of Bladwin II. in Jerusalem, near the Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The order was first limited in numbers, and its members were bound by vows of chastity and poverty. After the conquest of Palestine by the Saracens, the Templars spread over Europe, and, by reason of their reputation for valor and piety, they were enriched by numerous donations of money and lands. The extravagances and vices of the later Templars, however, finally led to the suppression of the order by the Council of Vienne in 1312. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A student of law, so called from having apartments in the Temple at London, the original buildings having belonged to the Knights Templars. See Inner Temple, and Middle Temple, under Temple. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One belonged to a certain order or degree among the Freemasons, called Knights Templars. Also, one of an order among temperance men, styled Good Templars. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a temple. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Solitary, family, and templar devotion. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Templet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. tempel, from L. templum a space marked out, sanctuary, temple; cf. Gr. &unr_; a piece of land marked off, land dedicated to a god: cf. F. témple, from the Latin. Cf. Contemplate. ] 1. A place or edifice dedicated to the worship of some deity; as, the temple of Jupiter at Athens, or of Juggernaut in India. “The temple of mighty Mars.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Jewish Antiq.) The edifice erected at Jerusalem for the worship of Jehovah. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. John x. 23. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, among Christians, an edifice erected as a place of public worship; a church. [ 1913 Webster ]

Can he whose life is a perpetual insult to the authority of God enter with any pleasure a temple consecrated to devotion and sanctified by prayer? Buckminster. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fig.: Any place in which the divine presence specially resides. “The temple of his body.” John ii. 21. [ 1913 Webster ]

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Cor. iii. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

The groves were God's first temples. Bryant. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mormon Ch.) A building dedicated to the administration of ordinances. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

6. A local organization of Odd Fellows. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Inner Temple, and
Middle Temple, two buildings, or ranges of buildings, occupied by two inns of court in London, on the site of a monastic establishment of the Knights Templars, called the Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To build a temple for; to appropriate a temple to; as, to temple a god. [ R. ] Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Templet. ] (Weaving) A contrivence used in a loom for keeping the web stretched transversely. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. temple, F. tempe, from L. tempora, tempus; perhaps originally, the right place, the fatal spot, supposed to be the same word as tempus, temporis, the fitting or appointed time. See Temporal of time, and cf. Tempo, Tense, n. ] 1. (Anat.) The space, on either side of the head, back of the eye and forehead, above the zygomatic arch and in front of the ear. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of the side bars of a pair of spectacles, jointed to the bows, and passing one on either side of the head to hold the spectacles in place. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Supplied with a temple or temples, or with churches; inclosed in a temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills. S. F. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. templatus vaulted, from L. templum a small timber. ] [ Spelt also template. ] 1. A gauge, pattern, or mold, commonly a thin plate or board, used as a guide to the form of the work to be executed; as, a mason's or a wheelwright's templet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) A short piece of timber, iron, or stone, placed in a wall under a girder or other beam, to distribute the weight or pressure. [ 1913 Webster ]