Temperate \Tem"per*ate\, a. [L. temperatus, p. p. of temperare. See Temper, v. t.]

1. Moderate; not excessive; as, temperate heat; a temperate climate.

2. Not marked with passion; not violent; cool; calm; as, temperate language.

She is not hot, but temperate as the morn. --Shak.

That sober freedom out of which there springs Our loyal passion for our temperate kings. --Tennyson.

3. Moderate in the indulgence of the natural appetites or passions; as, temperate in eating and drinking.

Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy. --Franklin.

4. Proceeding from temperance. [R.]

The temperate sleeps, and spirits light as air. --Pope.

Temperate zone (Geog.), that part of the earth which lies between either tropic and the corresponding polar circle; -- so called because the heat is less than in the torrid zone, and the cold less than in the frigid zones.

Syn: Abstemious; sober; calm; cool; sedate.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)