tempered

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

1.To mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, to soften; to mollify; to assuage; to soothe; to calm. [1913 Webster]

Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system.— Bancroft.[1913 Webster]

Woman! lovely woman! nature made thee To temper man: we had been brutes without you.— Otway.[1913 Webster]

But thy fire Shall be more tempered, and thy hope far higher.— Byron.[1913 Webster]

She [the Goddess of Justice] threw darkness and clouds about her, that tempered the light into a thousand beautiful shades and colors.— Addison.[1913 Webster]

2.To fit together; to adjust; to accomodate. [1913 Webster]

Thy sustenance . . . serving to the appetite of the eater, tempered itself to every man's liking.— Wisdom xvi. 21.[1913 Webster]

3.(Metal.) To bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to temper iron or steel. [1913 Webster]

The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

4.To govern; to manage. [A Latinism & Obs.] [1913 Webster]

With which the damned ghosts he governeth, And furies rules, and Tartare tempereth.— Spenser.[1913 Webster]

5.To moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as clay for making brick, loam for molding, etc. [1913 Webster]

6.(Mus.) To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use. [1913 Webster]

Syn: To soften; mollify; assuage; soothe; calm. [1913 Webster]