LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adverb

temere

temere (not comparable)
Classical[ˈtɛ.mɛ.rɛ]Ecclesiastical[ˈtɛː.me.re]

Meaning

  1. not comparableby chance, by accident, at random
  2. not comparablewithout design, intent, or purpose
  3. not comparablecasually, fortuitously, rashly, heedlessly, thoughtlessly, inconsiderately, indiscreetly, idly
    Dēcernimus ergō ut nūllī omnīnō hominum liceat vestrum coenobium temere perturbāre, aut eius possessiōnēs auferre, vel ablātās retinēre.We therefore decree that no man whatsoever shall be permitted to recklessly disturb your monastery, or to take away its possessions, or to retain those which have been taken away.
    SĪMŌ: Irrīdēs? Nīl mē fallis. Ēdīcō tibi: / nē temere faciās; neque tū haud dīcās tibi nōn praedictum — Cavē!SIMO: Are you laughing at me? You’re not fooling me at all. I declare to you: don’t act rashly; and don’t you dare say that you weren’t warned — Beware!166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 204–205

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

sine cōnsiliō, neglegenter
temere — in Epistulae, ch. 19

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

nullo consilio, nulla ratione, temere
without reflection; inconsiderately; rashly.
temere et fortuito; forte (et) temere
quite accidentally, fortuitously.
omnia temere agere, nullo iudicio uti
to have no principles.

tĕmĕrē (ante-class. collat. form tĕ-mĕrĭter, Enn. ap. Prisc. p. 1010 p.; Att. ap. Non. 516, 5; Trag. Fragm. v. 96 Rib.), adv. Sanscr. tamra, darkening; timira, dark; hence, blindly; cf.: timor, temeritas,
I. by chance, by accident, at random, without design, intent, or purpose, casually, fortuitously, rashly, heedlessly, thoughtlessly, inconsiderately, indiscreetly, etc. (cf.: forte, fortuito).
I. In gen.
A. With forte (cf. Hand, Turs. II. p. 731 sq.): quam saepe forte temere Eveniunt, quae non audeas optare, Ter. Phorm. 5, 1, 30; cf. Liv. 41, 2, 7: pepulere ut forte temere in adversos montes agmen erigeret, id. 2, 31, 5: rideant licet quibus forte temere humana negotia agi persuasum est, Curt. 5, 11, 10: nisi ista casu nonnumquam forte temere concurrerent, Cic. Div. 2, 68, 141; Liv. 23, 3, 3; 39, 15, 11: forte, temere, casu aut pleraque fierent aut omnia, etc., Cic. Fat. 3, 6.—
B. With casu, fortuito, etc.: ex corporibus huc et illuc casu et temere cursitantibus, Cic. N. D. 2, 44, 115; cf.: id evenit non temere nec casu, id. ib. 2, 2, 6: non enim temere nec fortuito sati et creati sumus, id. Tusc. 1, 49, 118: temere ac fortuito, id. Or. 55, 186: ne quid temere ac fortuito, inconsiderate neglegenterque agamus, id. Off. 1, 29, 103; cf.: omnia temere ac fortuito agere, Liv. 2, 28, 1; Tac. G 10: te nihil temere, nihil imprudenter facturum judicaram, Caes. ap. Cic. Att. 10, 8, B, 1 inconsulte ac temere dicere, Cic. N D. 1, 16, 43. temere ac nullā ratione causas dicere, id. de Or. 2, 8, 32; cf.: domus, quae temere et nullo consilio administratur (opp. quae ratione regitur), id. Inv. 1, 34, 58.—
C. Alone: non temere confirmare, Cic. Font. 1, 1: non temere scribere, id. Fam. 4, 13, 5: (oracula) partim effutita temere, id. Div 2, 55, 113; ne quid de se temere crederent, Sall. C. 31, 7: numquam temere tinniit tintinnabulum, Plaut. Trin 4, 2, 162. sub pinu jacentes sic temere, Hor. C. 2, 11, 14, cf.: temere insecutae Orphea silvae, id. ib. 1, 12, 7: temere errare in vallibus, at random, Ov. F 6, 327: saxa temere jacentia, Liv 9, 24, 6.—Comp.: temerius, Att. ap. Non 178, 23. —
II. In partic.
A. Non or haud temere est, it is not mere chance, it is not for nothing, there is a meaning in it: non temere est, quod corvus cantat mihi nunc ab laevā manu, Plaut. Aul. 4, 3, 1; so, non temere est, Ter. Heaut. 4, 1, 7; id. Eun. 2, 2, 59; id. Phorm. 5, 8 (9), 9: haud temere est, Enn. ap. Serv ad Verg. A. 9, 329 (Ann. v. 473); Verg. A. 9, 375; Liv. 1, 59, 6.—
B. Non temere, not easily, = non facile: rapidus fluvius est hic, non hac temere transiri potest, Plaut. Bacch. 1, 1, 52; hoc temere numquam amittam ego a me, Ter Phorm. 4, 5, 2: an temere quicquam Parmeno praetereat, quod facto usus sit? id. Hec. 5, 4, 38. qui hoc non temere nisi libertis suis deferebant, Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 4, § 13 non temere adire, Caes. B. G. 4, 20 patres quoque non temere pro ullo aeque adnisi sunt, Liv. 2, 61, 4; non temere incerta casuum reputat, quem fortuna numquam decepit, id. 30, 30, 11; Quint. 1, 3, 3: si negabimus temere famam nasci solere, Auct. Her. 2, 8, 12: non temere a me Quivis ferret idem, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 13; vatis avarus Non temere est animus, id. ib. 2, 1, 120: nec sibi quivis temere arroget artem, id. S. 2, 4, 35; Suet. Tit. 6; 8; Dig. 50, 17, 64; so also: nullus dies temere intercessit, quo non ad eum scriberet, Nep. Att. 20, 2.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *temezi (“in darkness, blindly”), a fossilised locative form of Proto-Indo-European *témHos (“darkness”), from *temH- (“dark”). Cognate with Sanskrit तमस् (támas), Persian تم (tam), Latin tenebrae (“darkness”). Compare this form – here simply adverbial – with the history of the Latin present active infinitive; see -ere.

Quick answers

What does temere mean in Latin?
temere, a adverb, means “by chance, by accident, at random; without design, intent, or purpose; casually, fortuitously, rashly, heedlessly, thoughtlessly, inconsiderately, indiscreetly, idly”.
How do you pronounce temere?
In classical Latin, [ˈtɛ.mɛ.rɛ]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈtɛː.me.re].