temporal
    adj 1: not eternal; "temporal matters of but fleeting moment"-
           F.D.Roosevelt
    2: of or relating to or limited by time; "temporal processing";
       "temporal dimensions"; "temporal and spacial boundaries";
       "music is a temporal art"
    3: of or relating to the temples (the sides of the skull behind
       the orbit); "temporal bone"
    4: characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed
       to the spiritual world; "worldly goods and advancement";
       "temporal possessions of the church" [syn: worldly,
       secular, temporal] [ant: unworldly]
    5: of this earth or world; "temporal joys"; "our temporal
       existence"
    n 1: the semantic role of the noun phrase that designates the
         time of the state or action denoted by the verb [syn:
         temporal role, temporal]

Temporal \Tem"po*ral\, a. [L. temporalis, fr. tempora the
   temples: cf. F. temporal. See Temple a part of the head.]
   (Anat.)
   Of or pertaining to the temple or temples; as, the temporal
   bone; a temporal artery.
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   Temporal bone, a very complex bone situated in the side of
      the skull of most mammals and containing the organ of
      hearing. It consists of an expanded squamosal portion
      above the ear, corresponding to the squamosal and zygoma
      of the lower vertebrates, and a thickened basal petrosal
      and mastoid portion, corresponding to the periotic and
      tympanic bones of the lower vertebrates.
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Temporal \Tem"po*ral\, a. [L. temporalis, fr. tempus, temporis,
   time, portion of time, the fitting or appointed time: cf. F.
   temporel. Cf. Contemporaneous, Extempore, Temper, v.
   t., Tempest, Temple a part of the head, Tense, n.,
   Thing.]
   1. Of or pertaining to time, that is, to the present life, or
      this world; secular, as distinguished from sacred or
      eternal.
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            The things which are seen are temporal, but the
            things which are not seen are eternal. --2 Cor. iv.
                                                  18.
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            Is this an hour for temporal affairs? --Shak.
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   2. Civil or political, as distinguished from ecclesiastical;
      as, temporal power; temporal courts.
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   Lords temporal. See under Lord, n.

   Temporal augment. See the Note under Augment, n.
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   Syn: Transient; fleeting; transitory.
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Temporal \Tem"po*ral\, n.
   Anything temporal or secular; a temporality; -- used chiefly
   in the plural. --Dryden.
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         He assigns supremacy to the pope in spirituals, and to
         the emperor or temporals.                --Lowell.
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