distemper
UK[dɪˈstempə]US[dɪˈstempər]
n
A viral disease of some animals, especially dogs, causing fever, coughing, and catarrh.
n
A kind of paint using glue or size instead of an oil base, for use on walls or for scene-painting.
Morpheme Breakdown
dis
temper
dis
apart/away
temper
mix/balance
Etymology
The word 'distemper' entered English in the late 14th century from Old French destemprer or directly from Medieval Latin distemperare, meaning "to upset the proper balance of bodily humors." It is built from the Latin prefix dis-, implying reversal or separation, and the verb temperare, meaning to mix or blend in proper proportion. The medical sense, originally describing a bodily imbalance or disorder, became specifically associated with a serious canine disease by the mid-18th century. The artistic sense for a type of water-based paint arose in the early 18th century, deriving from the technique of "distempering" or mixing pigments with a glutinous medium like size, rather than oil, thus altering the proper 'temper' of oil paint.
Analysis
Structure: dis (apart/away) + temper (mix/balance)
dis- (Latin prefix, meaning 'apart', 'asunder', 'away', having a negative or reversing force); temper (from Latin temperare, meaning 'to mix, blend, regulate, moderate').
Examples
The puppy had to be hospitalized after contracting distemper.
The old mural was executed in distemper, which has flaked over the centuries.
Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the spread of distemper in dogs.