distemperance 
tempransa = Sp. dcstemplunza = Pg. destempe- 
ranga = It. disteinpcranza ; stemperanza, < ML. 
distemperantia, perturbation, disturbance of 
condition, < distemperan(t-)s, ppr. of distempe- 
rare, distemper: see distemper^, v.] 1. Intem- 
perance; self-indulgence. Chaucer. 2. In- 
temperateness ; inclemency; severity. Chau- 
cer. 3. Derangement of temperature. 
They [meats] aunoye the body in causyng distemper- 
aunce. Sir T. Elyot, Castle of Health, ii. 
4. Distemper; disease. 
Disteiiipcrance rob thy sleepe. 
Marston and Webster, The Malcontent, i. 3. 
distemperatet (dis-tem'per-at), a. [< ML. dis- 
temperatus (> Sp. destemplado = Pg. destempe- 
rado), pp. of distemperare, distemper : see dis- 
temper*, v., and cf. temperate, intemperate.] 1. 
Immoderate. 
Aquinas objecteth the distemperate heat, which he sup- 
poses to be in all places directly under the sun. 
Raleigh, Hist. World. 
2. Diseased; distempered. 
Thou hast thy brain distemperate and out of rule. 
Wodroephe, Fr. and Eng. Grammar (1693), p. 295. 
distemperately (dis - tem ' per - at - li), adv. In 
a distemperate, disproportioned, or diseased 
manner. 
If you shall judge his flame 
Distemperately weake, as faulty much 
In stile, in plot, in spirit. 
Marston, The Fawne, Epil. 
distemperature (dis-tem'per-a-tur), n. [= It. 
stemperatura ; as distemperate +'-ure, after tem- 
perature. Cf. distemperure.] If. Derangement 
or irregularity of temperature ; especially, un- 
duly heightened temperature. 
This year [1079], by reason of Distemperature of Wea- 
ther, Thunders and Lightenings, by which many Men per- 
ished, there ensued a Famine. Baker, Chronicles, p. 29. 
A distemperature of youthful heat 
Might have excus'd disorder and ambition. 
Ford, Lady's Trial, iv. 2. 
2f. Intemperateness ; excess. 3. Violent tu- 
rn ultuousness; outrageous conduct ; an excess. 
It is one of the distemperatures to which an unreasoning 
liberty may grow, no doubt, to regard law as no more nor 
less than just the will the actual and present will of 
the actual majority of the nation. 
li. Choate, Addresses, p. 156. 
4. Perturbation of mind. 
Sprinkled a little patience on the heat of his distempera- 
ture. Scott. 
"You are discomposed or displeased, my lord," replied 
Tressiliau ; " yet there is no occasion for distemperature." 
Scott, Kenilworth, xxxviii. 
5. Confusion; commixture of contrarieties; loss 
of regularity ; disorder. 6. Illness; indisposi- 
tion. 
A huge infectious troop 
Of pale distemperatures, and foes to life. 
Shak., C. of E., v. 1. 
I found so great a dwtempe-rature in my body by drink- 
ing the sweete wines of Piemont, that caused a grievous 
inflammation in my face. Cori/at, Crudities, I. 96. 
[Bare or obsolete in all uses.] 
distemper-brush (dis-tem'per-brush), . A 
brush made of bristles which are set into the 
handle with a cement insoluble in water. 
distempered (dis-tem'perd), p. a. [Pp. of dis- 
temper'; v.] 1. Diseased or disordered. 
His maister had mervell what it ded mene 
So sodenly to see hym in that case, 
All distempered and out of colour clene. 
Generydes (E. E. T. S.), L 766. 
The Person that Died was so Distempered that he was 
not expected to live. Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 235. 
Their [early monks'] imaginations, distempered by self- 
inflicted sufferings, peopled the solitude with congenial 
spirits, and transported them at will beyond the horizon of 
the grave. Lecky, Rationalism, II. 35. 
O Sun, that healest all distempered vision, 
Thou dost content me so, when thou resolvest 
That doubting pleases me no less than knowing. 
Lonijfellow, tr. of Dante's Inferno, xi. 91. 
2. Put out of temper; ruffled; ill-disposed; dis- 
affected. 
The king . . . 
Is ill his retirement, marvellous distempered. 
Shak., Hamlet, iii. 2. 
Once more to-day well met, distemper'd lords ! 
The king, by me, requests your presence straight 
Shak., K. John, iv. 3. 
Should I have heard dishonour spoke of you 
Behind your back, untruly, I had been 
As much distemper'd and enrag'd as now. 
Beau, and PL, Philaster, iii. 1. 
3. Deprived of temper or moderation ; immod- 
erate ; intemperate : as, distempered zeal. 
A woman of the church of Weymouth being cast out for 
some distempered speeches, by a major party, . . . her 
husband complained to the synod. 
Winthrup, Hist. New England, II. 338. 
1692 
Pardon a weak, distempered soul, that swells 
With sudden gusts, and sinks as soon in calms, 
The sport of passions. Addinon, Cato, i. 1. 
4. Disordered ; prejudiced ; perverted : as, dis- 
tempered minds. 
The imagination, when completely distempered, is the 
most incurable of all disordered faculties. Biickiiiinster. 
distemperedness (dis-tem'perd-nes), n. The 
state of being distempered. Bailey, 1727. 
distemper-ground (dis-tem'p6r-ground), n. A 
ground of chalk or plaster mixed with a gluti- 
nous medium, and laid on a surface of wood, 
plaster, etc. , to prepare it for painting in dis- 
temper ; or such a ground laid on without refer- 
ence to subsequent operations. See distemper^, 
n.,1. 
There are, for instance, many pictures of Titian painted 
upon a red ground ; generally, they are painted upon dis- 
temper grounds, made of plaster of Paris and glue. 
IT. B. S. Taylor, tr. of MerimeVs Painting in Oil and 
[Fresco, p. 16. 
distempermentt (dis-tem'per-ment), n. [< OF. 
destemprement, destrempement, a mixture, tem- 
perament (also prob. a distempered state), = 
Pg. destemperamen to = It. distemperamento, stem- 
peramento, < ML. distemperamentum, a distem- 
pered state, < distemperare, distemper: see dis- 
temper 1 , v.] Distempered state; distempera- 
ture. 
Then, as some sulphurous spirit sent 
By the tome air's distemperinent, 
To a rich palace, finds within 
Some sainted maid or Sheba queen. 
Feltham, Lusoria, xxiv. 
distemperuret, [ME., < OF. destemprure, 
destrempure, temper: see distemper 1 and -ure. 
Cf. distemperature.] Distemperature. Minsheu. 
distend (dis-tend'), 11. [< OF. destendre, F. dis- 
tendre = It. distendere, stendere, < L. distendere, 
pp. distentus, LL. distensus, stretch asunder, < 
dis-, asunder, apart, + tendere, stretch: see 
tend 1 , tension. Cf. attend, contend, extend, etc.] 
1. trans. 1 . To stretch or spread in all direc- 
tions ; dilate ; expand ; swell out ; enlarge : as, 
to distend a bladder ; to distend the lungs. 
The effect of such a mass of garbage is to distend the 
stomach. J. C. Prichard, Phys. Hist. Mankind. 
How such ideas of the Almighty's power 
(Ideas not absurd) distetul the thought ! 
Youny, Night Thoughts, ix. 
2. To stretch in any direction; extend. [Bare.] 
Upon the earth my body I distend. 
Stirling, Aurora, ii. 
Wbat mean those colour'd streaks in heaven 
Distended, as the brow of God appeased ? 
Milton, P. L., xi. 880. 
3. To widen ; spread apart. [Bare.] 
The warmth distends the chinks. 
Dryden, tr. of Virgil's Georgics, 1. 
II. in trans. To become distended; swell. 
And now his heart 
Distends with pride. Milton, P. L., i. 572. 
distended (dis -ten 'ded), p. <i. [Pp. of dis- 
tend, v.] In entont., dilated : as, distended torsi. 
[Bare.] 
distender (dis-ten'der), . One who or that 
which distends. 
Its [the spleen's] yielding capsule and its veins, remark- 
able for their large calibre and great distensibility, even 
when the distending force is small. 
Quoin, Med. Diet., p. 1509. 
distensible (dis-ten'si-bl), a. [< LL. distensus, 
later form of L. distentus, pp. of distendere, dis- 
tend (see distend), + -Me.] Capable of being 
distended, dilated, or expanded, 
distension, n. See distention. 
distensive (dis-ten'siv), a. [= It. stensiro, < 
LL. distensus, later form of L. distentus, pp. of 
distendere, distend: see distend.] 1. That may 
be distended. 2. Having the property of dis- 
tending; causing distention. Smart. 
distent (dis-tenf), a. and n. [< L. distentus, pp. 
of distendere, stretch asunder: see distend.] I. 
a. Spread; distended. [Rare.] 
Nostrils in play, now distent, now distracted. 
L. Wallace, Ben-Hur, p. 360. 
Il.t n. Breadth. 
distention (dis-ten'shon), n. [< L. distentio(n-), 
< distendere, pp. disteiisus, stretch asunder: see 
distend.] 1. The act of distending, or the state 
of being distended ; dilatation ; a stretching in 
all directions ; inflation : as, the distention of 
the lungs or stomach. 2. A stretching in any 
direction; extension. [Bare.] 
Our legs do labour more in elevation than in detention. 
Sir II. Walton, Elem. of Architectuiv. 
distichous 
distort (dis-ter'), v. t. [< OF. desterrer, F. de- 
terrer, deprive of one's country, also dig or take 
out of the ground, < L. dis- priv. + terra, land, 
country, earth. Cf. after 2 , inter.] To banish 
from a country. 
The Moors, whereof many thousands were disterred and 
banished hence to Barbary. Ilowell, Letters, I. i. 24. 
disterminatet (<lis-ter'mi-nat), a. [< L. dister- 
minatus, pp. of distermiitare (>It. disterminare), 
separate by a boundary, < dis-, apart, + termi- 
nare, set a boundary, < terminus, a boundary: see 
term, terminate.] Separated by bounds. 
There is one and the same church of Christ, however far 
determinate in places, however segregated and infinitely 
severalized in persons. Up. Hall, The Peace-Maker, i. 3. 
disterminationt (dis-ter-mi-na'shon), n. [< dis- 
terminate: see-ation.] Separation; secession. 
This turning out of the church, this church-banishment 
or distermination. Hammond, Works, I. 450. 
disthene (dis'then), n. [< Gr. it-, two-, -I- aSe- 
vof, strength.] Cyanite : a mineral so called 
by Haiiy on account of its unequal hardness, 
and because its crystals have the property of 
being electrified both positively and negatively. 
disthronet (dis-thron'), v. t. [< OF. desthroner, 
< des- priv. + throne, a throne: see dis- and 
throne. Cf. dethrone.] To dethrone. 
Nothing can possibly disthrone them but that which 
cast the angels from heaven, and man out of paradise. 
Dr. John Smith, Portrait of Old Age, Pref. 
disthronizet (dis-thro'mz), v. t. [< dis- priv. + 
throne + -ize.] To dethrone. 
By his death he it recovered : 
lint Peridure and Vigent him disthronized. 
Spemer, F. Q., II. x. 44. 
distich (dis'tik), a. and n. [First, in E., as a 
noun; sometimes, as L., distichon; early mod. 
E. also distick ; < L. distichon, < Gr. (Harixov, a 
distich, neut. of 6iarixof, having two rows or 
verses, < it-, two-, + or/^of, a row, rank, line, 
verse : see stick.] I. a. Having two rows : 
same as distichous. 
H. n. In pros., a group or system of two 
lines or verses. A familiar example is the elegiac 
distich. (See eleyiac.) A distich in modern and riming 
poetry is more generally called a couplet, 
The first distance for the most part goeth all by digtick, 
or couples of verses agreeing in one cadence. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 70. 
distichiasis (dis-ti-ki'a-sis), n. [NL., < Gr. 6i- 
arixo^, having two rows : see distich.] A mal- 
formation consisting of a double row of eye- 
lashes. 
Distichodontinae (dis"ti-ko-don-tl'ne), n. pi. 
[NL., < Distichodus (-odont-) + -ince.] A sub- 
family of Characinidw, having an adipose fin, 
the teeth in both jaws well developed, the dor- 
sal fin short, rather elongate, and gill-openings 
of moderate width, the gill-membranes being 
attached to the isthmus. The species are all 
African. Also Distichodontina. 
Distichodus (dis-tik'o-dus), n. [NL., < Gr. <5<- 
aTixof, with two rows (see distich), + bdoi'f 
(bSovr-) = E. tooth.] A genus of characinoid 
fishes, representing 
a subfamily Disticho- 
dontinai. Also Disti- 
chodon. Muller and 
Troschel. 
Distichopora (dis-ti- 
kop'o-rii), n. [NL., 
< Gr.'(5io-V(^of , having 
two rows (see dis- 
tich), + Tropof, a 
pore.] A genus of 
hydrocorallines, rep- 
resenting the family 
Distichoporidcf. 
Distichoporidse (dis*ti-ko-por'i-de), . pi. 
[NL., < Distichopora + -idee.] A family of hy- 
drozoans, of the order Hydro- 
coralliixe. 
distichous (dis' ti-kus), . [< 
Gr. diorixof, having two rows : 
see distich.] Disposed in two 
rows; biserial; bifarious; di- 
chotomous; specifically,in6o?.. 
arranged alternately in two 
vertical ranks upon opposite 
sides of the axis, as the leaves 
of grasses, elms, etc. Also d's- 
tich Distichous antennae, in en- 
tmn.. tntennn in which the joints have 
on each side, near the apex, a long pro- 
cess which is directed forward, lying 
against the succeeding joint: a niuUi- 
tlcation of the bipectiuate type. 
Distichopora /aliacea. 
