http://physics.about.com/od/glossary/g/temperature.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature
"n the classical thermodynamic approach to temperature, temperature of an object varies with the speed of the particles it contains, raised to the second power. Therefore, temperature is tied directly to the mean kinetic energy of particles moving relative to the center of mass coordinates for that object. Temperature is an intensive variable because it is independent of the bulk amount of elementary entities contained inside, be they atoms, molecules, or electrons. In order for the temperature of a system to be defined, the system must be in thermodynamic equilibrium. Temperature may be considered to vary with position only if, for every point, there is a small neighborhood around that point can be treated as a thermodynamic system in equilibrium (i.e. local thermodynamic equilibrium). In the statistical thermodynamic approach, degrees of freedom are used instead of particles."