Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Tempera \Tem"pe*ra\, n. [It.] (Paint.)
   A mode or process of painting; distemper.

Tempera \Tem"pe*ra\, n. [It.] (Paint.)
   A mode or process of painting; distemper.

   Note: 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.

Source : WordNet®

tempera
     n : pigment mixed with water-soluble glutinous materials such as
         size and egg yolk [syn: {poster paint}, {poster color}, {poster
         colour}]