tempera Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun pigment mixed with water-soluble glutinous materials such as size and egg yolk
    poster paint; poster color; poster colour.

WordNet

Tem"pe*ra noun
Etymology
It.
Definitions
  1. (Paint.) A mode or process of painting; distemper. ✍ The term is applied especially to early Italian painting, common vehicles of which were yolk of egg, yolk and white of egg mixed together, the white juice of the fig tree, and the like.

Webster 1913