means Moderation and self-restraint, especially in indulgence — and in some movements, total abstinence from alcohol.

from From Latin temperantia, 'moderation,' built on temperare, 'to mix in proper proportion, to restrain.' The same verb gives us 'temper' (as in tempering steel or one's mood) — the underlying image is of balancing and blending so nothing runs to excess. It traveled through Old French temprance into English in the medieval period, long before the 19th-century Temperance Movement narrowed it, for many, to a pledge against drink.