distemper

¹ American  

[dis-tem-per] / dɪsˈtɛm pər /

noun

1. Veterinary Pathology.

   1. Also called canine distemper.  an infectious disease chiefly of young dogs, caused by an unidentified virus and characterized by lethargy, fever, catarrh, photophobia, and vomiting.

   2. Also called strangles.  Also called colt distemper,.  Also called equine distemper,.  an infectious disease of horses, caused by the bacillus Streptococcus equi and characterized by catarrh of the upper air passages and the formation of pus in the submaxillary and other lymphatic glands.

   3. Also called feline distemper.  Also called cat distemper,.  Also called feline agranulocytosis,.  Also called panleukopenia.  Also called feline infectious enteritis,.  a usually fatal viral disease of cats, characterized by fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, leading to severe dehydration.

2. a deranged condition of mind or body; a disorder or disease.

   a feverish distemper.

3. disorder or disturbance, especially of a political nature.

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verb (used with object)

1. Obsolete. to derange physically or mentally.

distemper ² American  

[dis-tem-per] / dɪsˈtɛm pər /

noun

1. Art.

   1. a technique of decorative painting in which glue or gum is used as a binder or medium to achieve a mat surface and rapid drying.

   2. (formerly) the tempera technique.

2. a painting executed by this method.

3. British. whitewash; calcimine.

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verb (used with object)

1. to paint in distemper.

2. British. to whitewash a wall, cottage, etc.; calcimine.

distemper ¹ British  

/ dɪsˈtɛmpə /

noun

1. any of various infectious diseases of animals, esp canine distemper , a highly contagious viral disease of dogs, characterized initially by high fever and a discharge from the nose and eyes See also hard pad strangles

2. archaic

   1. a disease or disorder

   2. disturbance

   3. discontent

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verb

1. archaic (tr) to disturb

distemper ² British  

/ dɪsˈtɛmpə /

noun

1. a technique of painting in which the pigments are mixed with water, glue, size, etc, used for poster, mural, and scene painting

2. the paint used in this technique or any of various water-based paints, including, in Britain, whitewash

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verb

1. (tr) to mix (pigments) with water and size

2. to paint (something) with distemper

distemper Scientific  

/ dĭs-tĕm′pər /

1. An infectious disease occurring especially in dogs, caused by the canine distemper virus of the genus Morbillivirus. It is characterized by loss of appetite, a discharge from the eyes and nose, vomiting, fever, lethargy, partial paralysis caused by destruction of myelinated nerve tissue, and sometimes death.

2. An infectious disease of cats caused by the feline panleukopenia virus of the genus Parvovirus, characterized by fever, vomiting, diarrhea leading to dehydration, and sometimes death.

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Other Word Forms

• distemperedly
  adverb
• distemperedness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of distemper¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb distemp(e)ren, destempren “to upset the balance of humors,” from Old French destemprer, from Medieval Latin distemperāre “to mix badly or in wrong proportions,” equivalent to Latin dis- dis- ¹ + temperāre “to mitigate, temper ”

Origin of distemper²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb distemperen “to dissolve or diliute (strong medicine)”; see origin at distemper ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

“No Physician has either Head or Hands enough to attend a Thousand Patients...I wish you had all come to Philadelphia, and had the Distemper here.”

From Washington Post • Dec. 12, 2020

The London Fields Distemper Council made public through its Research Committee an elaborate plan for finding a cure for the disease.

From Time Magazine Archive

At Rhodes Farm, Middlesex England, Sir Theodore Cook, chair man of the Field Distemper Committee stated tentatively that ; serum had been devised to cure dogs of distemper.

From Time Magazine Archive

But in general this Distemper is not so extremely violent; the Discharges are less frequent, being from twenty-five to forty within a Day and Night.

From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)

The spurious or false Pleurisy is a Distemper that does not affect the Lungs, but only the Teguments, the Skin, and the Muscles which cover the Ribs.

From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)