Con*tem"per (?), v. t. [L. contemperare, -temperatum; con- + temperare to temper. Cf. Contemperate.]
To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate; to soften.
[Obs.]
The antidotes . . . have allayed its bitterness and contempered its malignancy.
Johnson.
© Webster 1913.