distemper
noun /dɪˈstempə(r)/
/dɪˈstempər/
[uncountable]- a disease of animals, especially dogs, that causes a high temperature and coughing (= forcing air through the throat suddenly and noisily)
- (British English) a type of paint that is mixed with glue (= a sticky substance) and used on walls
Word Originsense 2 late Middle English (originally as a verb in the senses ‘dilute’ and ‘steep’): from Old French destremper or late Latin distemperare ‘soak’. sense 1 mid 16th cent. (originally in the sense ‘bad temper’, later ‘illness’): from Middle English distemper ‘upset, derange’, from late Latin distemperare ‘soak, mix in the wrong proportions’, from dis- ‘thoroughly’ + temperare ‘mingle’. Compare with temper. The current sense dates from the mid 18th cent.