Dis·tem·per v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distempered p. pr. & vb. n. Distempering.]
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.
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.”
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.]