''Tempore'' (abbreviated to temp.) in historical literature, denotes a period during which a person whose exact lifespan is unknown, was known to have been alive or active, or some other date which is not exactly known, usually given as the reign of a monarch. The word is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, being the

ablative In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced ; abbreviated ) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages. It is used to indicate motion away from something, make comparisons, and serve various o ...

singular of the noun ''tempus, temporis'', "time", thus meaning "in the time (of)". It should be followed by a name in the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

. The theoretical full form might be ''vixit tempore Regis Henrici Primi'' ("they lived in the time of King Henry the First"; i.e. 1100–1135). The best-known occurrence is in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, where the phrase ''Tempore Regis Eduardi'' (nominative case ''Rex Eduardus''), meaning "in the time of King Edward (the Confessor)" appears in the entry for almost every manor, abbreviated as TRE. It thus signifies the date range 1042–1066. It is useful in historical literature because the names of many historical persons appear in surviving documents only in royal charters, possibly as witnesses, which can be dated to the reign of the originating monarch. The word ''tempore'' is often given in its abbreviated form ''temp.'' It is similar to ''

floruit ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

'' ("flourished" t a date or range of dates which however is more appropriate for artists to denote not merely a period of life, but a particularly productive period within that lifespan.

References

{{Reflist Dating methods Domesday Book Latin words and phrases