3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Distemper  \Dis*tem"per\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Distempered};  p. 
  pr  &  vb  n.  {Distempering}.]  [OF.  destemprer,  destremper,  to 
  distemper,  F.  d['e]tremper  to  soak,  soften,  slake  (lime); 
  pref.  des-  (L.  dis-)  +  OF  temprer,  tremper,  F.  tremper,  L. 
  temperare  to  mingle  in  due  proportion.  See  {Temper},  and  cf 
  {Destemprer}.] 
  1.  To  temper  or  mix  unduly;  to  make  disproportionate;  to 
  change  the  due  proportions  of  [Obs.] 
 
  When  .  .  .  the  humors  in  his  body  ben  distempered. 
  --Chaucer. 
 
  2.  To  derange  the  functions  of  whether  bodily,  mental,  or 
  spiritual;  to  disorder;  to  disease.  --Shak. 
 
  The  imagination,  when  completely  distempered,  is  the 
  most  incurable  of  all  disordered  faculties. 
  --Buckminster. 
 
  3.  To  deprive  of  temper  or  moderation;  to  disturb;  to  ruffle; 
  to  make  disaffected,  ill-humored,  or  malignant. 
  ``Distempered  spirits.''  --Coleridge. 
 
  4.  To  intoxicate.  [R.] 
 
  The  courtiers  reeling,  And  the  duke  himself,  I  dare 
  not  say  distempered,  But  kind  and  in  his  tottering 
  chair  carousing.  --Massinger. 
 
  5.  (Paint.)  To  mix  (colors)  in  the  way  of  distemper;  as  to 
  distemper  colors  with  size.  [R.] 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Distemper  \Dis*tem"per\,  n.  [See  {Distemper},  v.  t.,  and  cf 
  {Destemprer}.] 
  1.  An  undue  or  unnatural  temper,  or  disproportionate  mixture 
  of  parts  --Bacon. 
 
  Note:  This  meaning  and  most  of  the  following  are  to  be 
  referred  to  the  Galenical  doctrine  of  the  four 
  ``humors''  in  man.  See  {Humor}.  According  to  the  old 
  physicians,  these  humors,  when  unduly  tempered,  produce 
  a  disordered  state  of  body  and  mind. 
 
  2.  Severity  of  climate;  extreme  weather,  whether  hot  or  cold. 
  [Obs.] 
 
  Those  countries  .  .  .  under  the  tropic,  were  of  a 
  distemper  uninhabitable.  --Sir  W. 
  Raleigh. 
 
  3.  A  morbid  state  of  the  animal  system;  indisposition; 
  malady;  disorder;  --  at  present  chiefly  applied  to 
  diseases  of  brutes;  as  a  distemper  in  dogs;  the  horse 
  distemper;  the  horn  distemper  in  cattle. 
 
  They  heighten  distempers  to  diseases.  --Suckling. 
 
  4.  Morbid  temper  of  the  mind;  undue  predominance  of  a  passion 
  or  appetite;  mental  derangement;  bad  temper;  ill  humor. 
  [Obs.] 
 
  Little  faults  proceeding  on  distemper.  --Shak. 
 
  Some  frenzy  distemper  had  got  into  his  head. 
  --Bunyan. 
 
  5.  Political  disorder;  tumult.  --Waller. 
 
  6.  (Paint.) 
  a  A  preparation  of  opaque  or  body  colors,  in  which  the 
  pigments  are  tempered  or  diluted  with  weak  glue  or 
  size  (cf.  {Tempera})  instead  of  oil,  usually  for  scene 
  painting,  or  for  walls  and  ceilings  of  rooms 
  b  A  painting  done  with  this  preparation. 
 
  Syn:  Disease;  disorder;  sickness;  illness;  malady; 
  indisposition;  ailment.  See  {Disease}. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  distemper 
  n  :  any  of  various  infectious  diseases  of  animals 
  v  :  paint  with  distemper 

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