Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Distemper
Dis-tem′per
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Distempered
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Distempering
.] [OF.
destemprer
, destremper
, to distemper, F. détremper
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
But kind, and in his tottering chair carousing.
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.]
1.
An undue or unnatural temper, or disproportionate mixture of parts.
Bacon.
☞ 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
. Shakespeare
Some frenzy
distemper
had got into his head. Bunyan.
5.
Political disorder; tumult.
Waller.
Syn. – Disease; disorder; sickness; illness; malady; indisposition; ailment. See
Disease
. Webster 1828 Edition
Distemper
DISTEMPER
,Noun.
1.
Literally, an undue or unnatural temper, or disproportionate mixture of parts. Hence, 2.
Disease; malady; indisposition; any morbid state of an animal body, or of any part of it; a state in which the animal economy is deranged or imperfectly carried on. [See Disease.] It is used of the slighter disease, but not exclusively. In general, it is synonymous with disease, and is particularly applied to the diseases of brutes.3.
Want of due temperature, applied to climate; the literal sense of the word, but not now used.Countries under the tropic of a distemper uninhabitable.
4.
Bad constitution of the mind; undue predominance of a passion or appetite.5.
Want of due balance of parts or opposite qualities and principles; as, the temper and distemper of an empire consist of contraries. [Not now used.]6.
Ill humor of mind; depravity of inclination. [Not used.]7.
Political disorder; tumult.8.
Uneasiness; ill humor or bad temper.There is a sickness, which puts some of us in distemper.
9.
In painting, the mixing of colors with something besides oil and water. When colors are mixed with size, whites of eggs, or other unctuous or glutinous matter, and not with oil, it is said to be done in distemper.DISTEMPER
,Verb.
T.
1.
To disease; to disorder; to derange the functions of the body or mind.2.
To disturb; to ruffle.3.
To deprive of temper or moderation.4.
To make disaffected, ill humored or malignant. This verb is seldom used, except in the participles.