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Temperate vs Tropical - What's the difference?

temperate | tropical |

As adjectives the difference between temperate and tropical

is that temperate is moderate; not excessive; as, temperate heat; a temperate climate while tropical is of or {{l/en|pertaining}} to the {{l/en|tropics}}, the {{l/en|equatorial}} {{l/en|region}} between 23 {{l/en|degrees}} north and 23 degrees south.

As a verb temperate

is to render temperate; to moderate; to soften; to temper.

As a noun tropical is

a tropical plant.

temperate

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Moderate; not excessive; as, temperate heat; a temperate climate.
  • *
  • *:Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
  • *(rfdate) (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:She is not hot, but temperate as the morn.
  • *(rfdate) (1809-1892)
  • *:That sober freedom out of which there springs Our loyal passion for our temperate kings.
  • Moderate in the indulgence of the natural appetites or passions; as, temperate in eating and drinking.
  • *(rfdate) (Benjamin Franklin) (1706-1790)
  • *:Be sober and temperate , and you will be healthy.
  • *
  • *:I am a temperate man and have made it a rule not to drink before luncheon. But I was so much ashamed of my first feeling about Gorman that I thought it well to break my rule.I gave my vote for whisky and soda as the more thorough-going drink of the two. A cocktail is seldom more than a mouthful.
  • Proceeding from temperance.
  • *(rfdate) (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:The temperate sleeps, and spirits light as air.
  • Living in an environment that is temperate, not extreme.
  • :
  • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * (geology) temperate zone, that part of the earth which lies between either tropic and the corresponding polar circle; -- so called because the heat is less than in the torrid zone, and the cold less than in the frigid zones.

    Verb

    (temperat)
  • (obsolete) To render temperate; to moderate; to soften; to temper.
  • :* It inflames temperance, and temperates wrath. Marston .
  • References

    *

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    tropical

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (abbreviation)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of or north and 23 degrees south.
  • From or similar to a hot climate, e.g. tropical fruit, tropical weather.
  • (dated) Pertaining to, involving, or of the nature of a .
  • (Jeremy Taylor)
  • * South
  • The foundation of all parables is some analogy or similitude between the tropical or allusive part of the parable and the thing intended by it.

    Derived terms

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A tropical plant.