n.
Function: noun
Date: 1546
1 : bad humor or temper
2 : a disordered or abnormal bodily state especially of quadruped mammals: as a : a highly contagious virus disease especially of dogs that is caused by a paramyxovirus (species Canine distemper virus of the genus Morbillivirus ) and is marked by fever, leukopenia, and respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological symptoms b : STRANGLES c : PANLEUKOPENIA
3 : AILMENT , DISORDER <vice and folly are situated not in human nature ⋯ but in distemper s of intellect ― George Stade>
– dis · tem · per · ate \ -p( ə -)r ə t \ adjective