moderate

English Online Dictionary. What means moderate‎? What does moderate mean?

English

Pronunciation

• Adjective, noun:
  • IPA^(key): (UK) /ˈmɒdəɹət/
  • (US): enPR: mäd'ər-ət, IPA^(key): /ˈmɑdəɹət/
• Verb:
  • IPA^(key): (UK) /ˈmɒdəɹeɪt/
  • (US): enPR: mäd'ə-rāt, IPA^(key): /ˈmɑdəɹeɪt/

Etymology 1

From Middle English moderat(e) (“moderate, temperate”), borrowed from Latin moderātus, perfect active participle of moderor (“regulate, restrain, moderate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from moder-, modes-, a stem appearing also in modestus (“moderate, discreet, modest”), from modus (“measure”); see mode and modest. Doublet of moderato. Displaced native Old English ġemetlīċ (“moderate”) and metegian (“to moderate”). Cognate with French modéré.

Adjective

moderate (comparative more moderate, superlative most moderate)

1. Not excessive; acting in moderation
2. (pathology) more than mild, less than severe
3. Mediocre
4. Average priced; standard-deal
5. Not violent or rigorous; temperate; mild; gentle.
6. (US, politics) Having an intermediate position between liberal and conservative.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:moderate
• See also Thesaurus:intermediate

Derived terms

• moderate breeze
• moderately
• moderateness

Translations

Etymology 2

From a substantivization of the above adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Noun

moderate (plural moderates)

1. One who holds an intermediate position between extremes, as in politics.
2. (Christianity, historical) One of a party in Scottish Church history dominant in the 18th century, lax in doctrine and discipline, but intolerant of evangelicalism and popular rights. It caused the secessions of 1733 and 1761, and its final resultant was the Disruption of 1843.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English moderaten (“to restrain, curb; (law) modify”), from moderat(e) +‎ -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin moderātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Verb

moderate (third-person singular simple present moderates, present participle moderating, simple past and past participle moderated)

1. (transitive) To reduce the excessiveness of (something).

   Synonyms: accoy, mitigate, soften, temper, temperate
2. (intransitive) To become less excessive.

   Synonyms: cool, settle down, soften

3. (transitive) To preside over (something) as a moderator.

   Synonyms: arbitrate, chair

4. (intransitive) To act as a moderator; to assist in bringing to compromise.

5. (transitive, physics) To supply with a moderator (substance that decreases the speed of neutrons in a nuclear reactor and hence increases likelihood of fission).

Derived terms

• moderation
• moderating

Related terms

Translations

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “moderate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “moderate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

moderate

1. inflection of moderat:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

moderate

1. inflection of moderare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

moderate f pl

1. feminine plural of moderato

Anagrams

• dateremo

Latin

Verb

moderāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of moderō

References

• “moderate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “moderate”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

moderate

1. definite singular of moderat
2. plural of moderat

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

moderate

1. definite singular of moderat
2. plural of moderat

Spanish

Verb

moderate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of moderar combined with te