tempera
Americannoun
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a technique of painting in which an emulsion consisting of water and pure egg yolk or a mixture of egg and oil is used as a binder or medium, characterized by its lean film-forming properties and rapid drying rate.
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a painting executed in this technique.
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a water paint used in this technique in which the egg-water or egg-oil emulsion is used as a binder.
noun
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a painting medium for powdered pigments, consisting usually of egg yolk and water
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any emulsion used as a painting medium, with casein, glue, wax, etc, as a base
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the paint made from mixing this with pigment
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the technique of painting with tempera
Etymology
Origin of tempera
1825–35; < Italian, short for ( pingere a ) tempera (painting in) distemper, derivative of temperare to mingle, temper; temper
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Venetian painting of the Renaissance is richly, radiantly colored, mainly because it is oil-based, unlike the Florentines’ water-based tempera, which yields a more chromatically subdued result.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
The large tempera painting shows a group of colorfully clad people on a lawn, some eating or playing music, while others seem to be dancing.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 13, 2023
One of them, a tiny prayer book from the 15th century, is leather-bound with egg-based tempera paint and touches of gold leaf on parchment.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2022
He preferred tempera, a medium he loved because it dried quickly and enabled him to achieve a feeling of decay.
From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2022
The present tense is moving forward, discarding concept after concept, and I am off to the side somewhere, fiddling with egg tempera and flat surfaces, as if the twentieth century has never happened.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
