temper

] To deprive of the temper or due degree of hardne , as metals; hence, to soften, to mollify. "Soften and untemper the courages of men."-Cotton: Montaigne's E ays, xix. *un-tem-për-ate, adj. [Pref. un- (1), and Eng. temperate.] Not temperate; intemperate. IMG:content-0268.png:[blocks in formation] *2. Not built with properly tempered mortar. "Smite the untemper'd wall."- Cowper : Hope , 627. 3. Not brought to the proper degree of hardne ; as, untempered steel. *4. Not brought to a fit or proper state; not regulated, moderated, or controlled. "Let us not condemn him with untempered severity."-Johnson: Lives of the Poets; Waller .