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.]
Dis*tem"per, n. [See Distemper, v. t., and cf. Destemprer.] 1. An undue or unnatural temper, or disproportionate mixture of parts. Bacon.
This meaning and most of the following are to be referred to the Galenical doctrine of the four "humors" in man. See Humor. According to the old physicians, these humors, when unduly tempered, produce a disordered state of body and mind.