temple

B2 Topic:Religion & Belief

US /ˈtɛm.pl̩/ See IPA manual

Freq #2052

Meanings

1

noun
A building used for worship in some religions.

They visited an ancient temple during their trip to Greece.
2

noun
The flat area on each side of the head, between the forehead and the ear.

He rubbed his temples to ease the headache.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

faneshrine

Word family

Forms temples

Derived forms antetemplenontempletemple-goertemple-goingtemplelike

Related forms templartemporal

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

ancient temple
a building for worship dating from a very remote historical period

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Temple meaning a place of worship comes from Latin templum “open or consecrated space.” Temple meaning the side of the forehead is a different word inherited from vulgar Latin and probably goes back to an Indo-European root meaning “stretch,” from the way the skin is stretched there.

Etymology

From Middle English temple, from Old English templ, tempel, borrowed from Latin templum (“shrine, temple, area for auspices”). Compare Old High German tempal (“temple”), also a borrowing from the Latin.

*temh₁- Proto-Indo-European temple Middle English templ Old English templum Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Religion & Belief

External links

# temple

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɛm.pl̩/
**Frequency rank:** 2052

## Meanings
1. A building used for worship in some religions.
2. The flat area on each side of the head, between the forehead and the ear.

## Examples
- They visited an ancient temple during their trip to Greece.
- He rubbed his temples to ease the headache.

## Synonyms
- fane
- shrine

## Derived Forms
- antetemple
- nontemple
- temple-goer
- temple-going
- templelike

## Related Forms
- templar
- temporal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *temh₁-
- Root: temple
- Root: templ
- Root: templum

## Etymology
From Middle English temple, from Old English templ, tempel, borrowed from Latin templum (“shrine, temple, area for auspices”). Compare Old High German tempal (“temple”), also a borrowing from the Latin.

## AI Etymology
Temple is from Middle English temple, from Old English templ, tempel, borrowed from Latin templum (“shrine, temple, area for auspices”). Compare Old High German tempal (“temple”), also a borrowing from the Latin. In present-day use, it can mean a building used for worship in some religions, or the flat area on each side of the head, between the forehead and the ear.

## Topics
- Religion & Belief

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