Distempered

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.]
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              When . . . the humors in his body ben distempered.
                                                    --Chaucer.
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     2. To derange the functions of, whether bodily, mental, or
        spiritual; to disorder; to disease. --Shak.
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              The imagination, when completely distempered, is the
              most incurable of all disordered faculties.
                                                    --Buckminster.
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     3. To deprive of temper or moderation; to disturb; to ruffle;
        to make disaffected, ill-humored, or malignant.
        "Distempered spirits." --Coleridge.
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     4. To intoxicate. [R.]
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              The courtiers reeling,
              And the duke himself, I dare not say distempered,
              But kind, and in his tottering chair carousing.
                                                    --Massinger.
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     5. (Paint.) To mix (colors) in the way of distemper; as, to
        distemper colors with size. [R.]
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