The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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To temper or mix unduly; to make disproportionate; to change the due proportions of. [Obs.]
When . . . the humors in his body ben distempered.
--Chaucer. -
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. To deprive of temper or moderation; to disturb; to ruffle; to make disaffected, ill-humored, or malignant. ``Distempered spirits.''
--Coleridge.-
To intoxicate. [R.]
The courtiers reeling, And the duke himself, I dare not say distempered, But kind, and in his tottering chair carousing.
--Massinger. (Paint.) To mix (colors) in the way of distemper; as, to distemper colors with size. [R.]
Wiktionary
vb. (present participle of distemper English)
Usage examples of "distempering".
The kittiwakes nested on all available upper storey window ledges along the river front, distempering walls with their droppings.
If Ganesh never went to Lydia, then he couldn't have had anything to do with distempering Cyrus's armor.