Tem″po‐ral (?), a. [L. temporalis, fr. tempus, temporis, time, portion of time, the fitting or appointed time: cf. F. temporel. Cf. Contemporaneous, Extempore, Temper, v. t., Tempest, Temple a part of the head, Tense, n., Thing.] 1. Of or pertaining to time, that is, to the present life, or this world; secular, as distinguished from sacred or eternal.
The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. iv. 18.
Is this an hour for temporal affairs? Shak.
2. Civil or political, as distinguished from ecclesiastical; as, temporal power; temporal courts.
Lords temporal. See under Lord, n. — Temporal augment. See the Note under Augment, n.
Syn. — Transient; fleeting; transitory.