The Nine Virtues - Moderation

Dictionary Definition

noun

1. The quality of being moderate;  restraint; avoidance of extremes or excesses; temperance.

2. The act of moderating.

3. Moderations, British . the first public examinations at Oxford University for the B.A. degree in mathematics or in classics.

Idiom

4. In moderation, without excess; moderately; temperately: to drink in moderation.
Dictionary.com

ADF Definition

Cultivating one's appetites so that one is neither a slave to them nor driven to ill health (mental or physical) through excess or deficiency  
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My Understanding

Moderation doesn't function on the premise of denial, rather it is the process of seeking satiation without excess. Whether this is regarding food and drink, work, school, friendships etc is irrelevant it is about meeting a goal or filling a need without deprivation or excess. In practical day to day life this could be manifest in not taking the extra helping, leaving a little dinner on your plate, taking a walk, not overdoing it at work so that you're too tired to be civil to your family, maintaining a balance and satisfaction with life by appreciating all aspects of it without ruining or damaging those aspects or yourself through over-indulgence, or, distorting the aspect and damaging yourself through pointless deprivation.