distemper1
/dɪˈstɛmpə
/noun [mass noun]
1A viral disease of some animals, especially dogs, causing fever, coughing, and catarrh.For example, parvovirus, distemper and rabies are diseases that can be vaccinated against....
- Will the insurer cover routine wellness care, such as inoculations against distemper, rabies and other diseases?
- The canine distemper virus causes a highly contagious disease in dogs known as distemper.
2 archaic Political disorder: an attempt to illuminate the moral roots of the modern world’s distemper...
- The Hamlet world's distemper, she argues, stems mostly from the way the generational/political life cycle has been upset.
- Another reason for stalemate (or decline, as the case may be) in the stock market is the political distemper created by the major political parties.
- At the heart of the book is James's description of the democratic temperament, which I take to be a healthy corrective to the distemper that characterizes so much of politics today.
Origin
Mid 16th century (originally in the sense 'bad temper', later 'illness'): from Middle English distemper 'upset, derange', from late Latin distemperare 'soak, mix in the wrong proportions', from dis- 'thoroughly' + temperare 'mingle'. Compare with temper. sense 1 dates from the mid 18th century.
distemper2
/dɪˈstɛmpə/noun [mass noun]
1A kind of paint using glue or size instead of an oil base, for use on walls or for scene-painting.The kitchen gleamed from the distemper Dad had painted on its walls in contrasting shades of green and pink....
- The walls were painted with a water-based powder distemper, usually in grass green or primrose colour.
- Paper was printed by hand using wooden blocks and distemper paint, which dried to a soft, matt finish.
1.1A method of mural and poster painting using distemper.We use camlin water colour for fine painting and distemper in general....
- Come a ‘chaste art festival’, then the distemper art rules the roost in major spots.
- Many of the artists, most particularly Vuillard, painted these in distemper and left them unlined and unvarnished, making them more fragile than oils on canvas.
verb [with object] (often as adjective distempered)
Paint with distemper: the distempered roof timbers...
- At Wissett Lodge, her rented home in Suffolk, she and Duncan distempered the walls a brilliant blue, and dyed the chair-covers with coloured ink.
- The bedroom walls were distempered a dark, shiny green, the curtains were green with spots on and the bedspread an uninspiring khaki.
Origin
Late Middle English (originally as a verb in the senses 'dilute' and 'steep'): from Old French destremper or late Latin distemperare 'soak'.