Emily Dickinson Lexicon

IN-TEM'PER-ANCE, n. [Fr. from L. intemperantia.]

1. In a general sense, want of moderation or due restraint; excess in any kind of action or indulgence; any exertion of body or mind, or any indulgence of appetites or passions which is injurious to the person or contrary to morality; as, intemperance in study or in labor, in eating or drinking, or in any other gratification. Hence, appropriately and emphatically.
2. Habitual indulgence in drinking spirituous liquors, with or without intoxication. Should a foreign army land on our shores, to levy such a tax upon us as intemperance levies – no mortal power could resist the swelling tide of indignation that would overwhelm it. L. Beecher.