mistemper

English

Etymology

From mis- +‎ temper.

Verb

mistemper (third-person singular simple present mistempers, present participle mistempering, simple past and past participle mistempered)

1. (transitive) To temper (something) ill; to disorder.
   • c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act VI, scene i]:

     [T]his inundation of mistempered humour […]

     An adjective use.

   • 1602, William Warner, “The Second Booke. Chapter IX.”, in Albions England. A Continued Historie of the Same Kingdome, from the Originals of the First Inhabitants thereof: […], 5th edition, London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant for George Potter, […], →OCLC, page 37:

     From her miſtempered head ſhe teares her louely Treſſes faſt, / And beareth on her Iuorie breſts, and caſts her on the ground, […]

     An adjective use.

Further reading

• “mistemper”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.