View source for Temporal (meaning)

The [[adjective]] '''temporal''' has a number of meanings, and can give rise to a number of problems. It is pronounced 'TEMP-er-el', {{IPA|ˈtɛmp <sup>ə</sup>r əl}}; to stress it as if it were related to the adjective '[[oral]]' is an error. The [[adverb]] '''temporally''' is pronounced in a similar way. You may also want to see AWE's page about a not uncommon confusion at [[Temporal - temporary]].

The word '''temporal''' is derived from the [[Latin]] ''tempus'', whose basic meaning is 'time', 'season'. (Cf. the Latin motto common on sundials, etc, ''tempus fugit'', '[the] Time flies'.) This gives '''temporal''' its basic meaning in English: 
*'of, or to do with, time', as in the opposition between '''temporal''' and 'spatial' measurements, or dimensions;
*'to do with this world [or life]', perceived as in opposition to the 'eternal life' of Heaven, as imagined by Christians; 
*this leads to 'secular', 'not holy' as opposed to 'spiritual' - seen in the [[UK]] [[House of Lords]], where hereditary peers are known as '''Lords Temporal''', and bishops (of the [[Church of England]]) as 'Lords Spiritual'. A clergyman's '''temporalities''' (this is usually in the [[plural]] form) are his 'worldly possessions', the material wealth belonging to him or her and his or her church or office.
*There are also various technical meanings, in 
**[[prosody]] (particularly in [[quantitative metre]], where '''temporal''' is sometimes virtually [[synonym]]ous with '[[quantitative metre|quantitative]];
**[[grammar]], where it may be [[synonym]]ous with [[tense]] or express a refinement and sub-classification of discussion of tense; a '''temporal [[clause]]''' is a clause 'of time' (~ one communicating a time relationship), such as one beginning 'when' or 'while';
**the '''temporal paradox''' is a problem much occupying writers of [[Science Fiction]], whereby certain anomalies would be created were time travel possible, such as the effect on 'the present' were one to destroy an ancestor in 'the past' - before having descendants;
**in [[Roman Catholic]] liturgies, it means those parts of a given service that are repeated daily, as opposed to those that vary according to which [[Saint]]'s day is being celebrated (the '''Sanctorale'''); 
**in Geography, '''temporal''' sometimes provides a useful distinction in discussion of tides.
*'''Temporal''' can also be 'connected with the '''[[temple]]s''', which are part of the human head - the two flattened areas on the sides of the forehead, just above and behind the region of the eyes. So anatomist5s talk, for example, of
**the '''temporal artery''', the source of the pulse that can be seen and felt beating in the temples;
**the '''temporal lobe''' [of the brain], which is involved in semantic understanding, auditory perception, of speech and music, for example, and memory.


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