Témporal. adj. [temporal, Fr. temporalis, low Latin.]

1. Measured by time; not eternal.

   As there they sustain temporal life, so here they would learn to make provision for eternal. Hooker.

2. Secular; not ecclesiastical.

   This sceptre shews the force of temporal power,
   The attribute to awe and majesty,
   Wherein doth sit the dread of kings. Shakespeare.

   All the temporal lands, which men devout
   By testament have given to the church,
   Would they strip from us. Shakesp. Henry V.

   All temporal power hath been wrested from the clergy, and much of their ecclesiastick. Swift.

3. Not spiritual.

   Call not every temporal end a defiling of the intention, but only when it contradicts the ends of God, or when it is principally intended: for sometimes a temporal end is part of our duty; and such are all the actions of our calling. Taylor.

   Our petitions to God with regard to temporals, must be that medium of convenience proportioned to the several conditions of life. Roger's Serm.

4. [Temporal, Fr.] Placed at the temples, or upper part of the head.

   Copious bleeding, by opening the temporal arteries, are the most effectual remedies for a phrensy. Arbuthnot on Aliments.