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.

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.

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.

The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. iv. 18.

Is this an hour for temporal affairs? Shak.

2. Civil or political, as distinguished from ecclesiastical; as, temporal power; temporal courts.

Lords temporal. See under Lord, n. — Temporal augment. See the Note under Augment, n.

Syn. — Transient; fleeting; transitory.

Tem′po·ral, n. Anything temporal or secular; a temporality; — used chiefly in the plural. Dryden.

He assigns supremacy to the pope in spirituals, and to the emperor or temporals. Lowell.