temperance

noun

1. moderation or self-restraint in action, statement, etc.; self-control.
2. habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion, especially in the use of alcoholic liquors.
3. total abstinence from alcoholic liquors.

noun

1. restraint or moderation, esp in yielding to one’s appetites or desires
2. abstinence from alcoholic drink

n.mid-14c., “self-restraint, moderation,” from Anglo-French temperaunce (mid-13c.), from Latin temperantia “moderation,” from temperans, present participle of temperare “to moderate” (see temper). Latin temperantia was used by Cicero to translate Greek sophrosyne “moderation.” In English, temperance was used to render Latin continentia or abstinentia, specifically in reference to drinking alcohol and eating; hence by early 1800s it came to mean “abstinence from alcoholic drink.” n.

1. Moderation and self-restraint, as in behavior or expression.
2. Restraint in the use of or abstinence from alcoholic liquors.