temporize
Meanings
Plural: temporize, temporized
Verb
- draw out a discussion or process in order to gain time
- "The speaker temporized in order to delay the vote"
- To deliberately act evasively or prolong a discussion in order to gain time or postpone a decision, sometimes so that a compromise can be reached or simply to make a conversation more temperate; to stall for time.
- To discuss, to negotiate; to reach a compromise.
- To apply a temporary piece of dental work that will later be removed.
- To comply with the occasion or time; to humour, or yield to, current circumstances or opinion; also, to trim (“fluctuate between parties, so as to appear to favour each”).
- To delay, especially until a more favourable time; to procrastinate.
- To take temporary measures or actions to manage a situation without providing a definitive or permanent solution.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle French temporiser (“to wait one's time, temporize”) + English -ize (suffix forming verbs). Temporiser is derived from Medieval Latin temporizāre, from Latin temporāre (“to delay, put off”) + -izāre (suffix forming the present active infinitive of verbs). Temporāre is derived from tempor-, the inflected stem of tempus (“age, time, period; season of the year; due, opportune, or proper time”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temp-, *ten- (“to extend, stretch (in the sense of a stretch of time)”), or *temh₁- (“to cut (in the sense of a section of time)”)) + -āre. Compare temporalize.
Synonyms
Scrabble Score: 22
temporize is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordtemporize is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
temporize is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary