Meaning

noun a sudden outburst of anger

noun a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling

noun a disposition to exhibit uncontrolled anger

originFrom Middle English temperen, tempren, from Old English ġetemprian, temprian, borrowed from Latin temperō (“(transitive) to divide or proportion duly, to moderate, to regulate; (intransitive) to be moderate, temperate”), from tempus (“time, fit season”). Compare also French tempérer. Doublet of tamper. See temporal.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0