I. də̇s+ transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English distempren, destempren, from Late Latin distemperare (to mix badly), from Latin dis- dis- (I) + temperare to temper, mingle properly — more at temper
1. : to throw out of order or proper or smoothly working adjustment : afflict with a distemper : disorder , derange
no sophism is too gross to delude minds distempered by party spirit — T.B.Macaulay
he has seldom been grievously distempered by repressions, guilt, despondency, or philosophical doubt — C.J.Rolo
2. archaic
a. : to make unhealthy : sicken
b. : to derange the mind of : make insane
3. archaic : to deprive of even temper or moderation : make ill-humored
II. “ sometimes ˈdi+ˌ- noun
Etymology: partly from distemper (I) , partly from dis- (I) + temper
1. : bad or ill humor : bad temper : ill feeling
2. : a disordered or abnormal bodily state usually of an animal: as
a. : a highly contagious virus disease of dogs, minks, wolves, and foxes that is marked by fever, skin eruptions, acute respiratory inflammation frequently passing into pneumonia and sometimes by symptoms referable to invasion and demyelination of nervous tissue ; also : any of certain allied and ill-distinguished virus infections of dogs — compare hard pad
b. : strangles
c. : panleucopenia
d. : a severe frequently fatal infectious nasopharyngeal inflammation of rabbits
3. obsolete : intoxication
4.
a. : disorder or derangement especially civil or political or a particular disorder, affliction, or derangement
in the middle ages … resistance was an ordinary remedy for political distempers — T.B.Macaulay
the distempers of monarchy were the great subjects of apprehension and distress — J.R.Newman
b. archaic : unpleasant or inclement condition (as of weather or climate)
III. də̇s+ transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English distemperen, from Middle French destemprer, from Medieval Latin distemperare, from Latin dis- dis- (I) + temperare to mingle properly
1.
a. obsolete : to dilute with or soak, steep, or dissolve in a liquid
b. archaic : to corrupt or impair by dilution or by a counteragent
2.
a. : to mix (colors or ingredients) to produce distemper for painting
b. : to paint in or with distemper
IV. “ sometimes ˈdi+ˌ- noun
( -s )
1. : a process of painting in which the pigments are mixed with an emulsion of egg yolk, with size, or with white of egg, or when distinguished from tempera with size only as a vehicle and usually used for scene painting or the decoration of usually plaster walls and ceilings
2.
a. : the paint or the prepared ground used in the distemper process of painting
b. : a painting done in distemper
c. : a pigment used especially for distemper paint
3. : any of a number of paints or coloring materials using water as a vehicle (as whitewash, calcimine, or cement wash)