moderate

moderate · adjective¹

1. Latin · borrowed frommoderātus
2. Middle English · inherited frommoderat(e)“moderate, temperate”
3. English todaymoderate

From Middle English moderat(e) (“moderate, temperate”), borrowed from Latin moderātus, perfect active participle of moderor (“to regulate, to restrain, to moderate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from moder-, modes-, a stem appearing also in modestus (“moderate, discreet, modest”), from modus (“a measure”); see mode and modest. Doublet of moderato. Displaced native Old English ġemetlīċ (“moderate”) and metegian (“to moderate”). Cognate with French modéré.

moderate · noun²

From a substantivization of the above adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

moderate · verb³

1. Latin · borrowed frommoderātus
2. Middle English · inherited frommoderaten“to restrain, curb; (law) modify”
3. English todaymoderate

From Middle English moderaten (“to restrain, curb; (law) modify”), from moderat(e) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin moderātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Words from the same roots