A temple (from the Latin word templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also became associated with the dwelling places of a god or gods. Despite the specific set of meanings associated with the religion of the ancient Rome, the word has now become quite widely used to describe a house of worship for any number of religions and is even used for time periods prior to the Romans.
Read more about Temple: Oldest Temple, Mesopotamian Temples, Egyptian Temples, Greco-Roman Temples, Pagan Temples, Zoroastrian Temples, Sikh Temples, Hindu Temples, Buddhist Temples, Jain Temples, Jewish Synagogues and Temples, Christian Temples, Masonic Temples, Other Religions
Famous quotes containing the word temple:
“If one doubts whether Grecian valor and patriotism are not a fiction of the poets, he may go to Athens and see still upon the walls of the temple of Minerva the circular marks made by the shields taken from the enemy in the Persian war, which were suspended there. We have not far to seek for living and unquestionable evidence. The very dust takes shape and confirms some story which we had read.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Lord, how can man preach thy eternall word?
He is a brittle crazie glasse:
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
This glorious and transcendent place,
To be a window, through thy grace.”
—George Herbert (1593–1633)
“The heathen are come into thine inheritance,
And thy temple have they defiled.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)