Something I learned today ...

"Temperament" is not spelled "temperment" or "tempermant".

There's an extra "a" in that word.

From Merriam-Webster:

temperament

Main Entry:  tem·per·a·ment
Pronunciation:  \ˈtem-p(ə-)rə-mənt, -pər-mənt\
Function:  noun
Etymology:  Middle English, from Latin temperamentum, from temperare to mix, temper
Date: 15th century

1. obsolete a: constitution of a substance, body, or organism with respect to the mixture or balance of its elements, qualities, or parts

2. obsolete a: climate b: temperature

3. a: the peculiar or distinguishing mental or physical character determined by the relative proportions of the humors according to medieval physiology; b: characteristic or habitual inclination or mode of emotional response <a nervous temperament> c: extremely high sensibility; especially : excessive sensitiveness or irritability

4. a: the act or process of tempering or modifying : adjustment, compromise; b: middle course : mean

5. the slight modification of acoustically pure intervals in tuning a musical instrument; especially : modification that produces a set of 12 equally spaced tones to the octave

synonyms see disposition

Why would you list the obsolete definitions first?  Also, is this really such an obscure word.  Do people not say "He has a pleasant temperament" anymore?  Am I old-fashioned?!?  Or have I just *never* used this word correctly - are there only negative connotations to this word?

I headed over to the Oxford Dictionary.

temperament
noun: a person’s nature with regard to the effect it has on their behaviour.
— ORIGIN Latin temperamentum ‘correct mixture’, from temperare ‘mingle’.

OK, this is much more what I expected.  Little more neutral.

This little experiment makes me appreciate Erin McKean even more.  I saw Erin at TED and I love what she's doing for dictionaries.  Until the TED videos are out, check out her talk at Google: Ten Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Dictionaries