Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “temple” come from?

temple (Middle English) comes from Old French temple, from Vulgar Latin temp(u)la, from Latin tempora, from Latin tempus, from Proto-Indo-European tempos, from Proto-Indo-European temp- — to extend, stretch, span; to stetch, string; to...

Ancestry of “temple”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchtempletemple
2Vulgar Latintemp(u)la—
3Latintemporanominative plural of tempus; accusative plural of...
4Latintempustime, period, age; season; kairos, right time,...
5Proto-Indo-Europeantemposstretch
6Proto-Indo-Europeantemp-to extend, stretch, span; to stetch, string; to...

Words derived from “temple”

  • temple
  • templed
  • templelike
  • nontemple
  • templegoer
  • antetemple
  • temple-goer
  • temple-going
  • tempel
Every word from Proto-Indo-European temp- →