Basque, n. and a.
(bɑːsk, -æ-)
[a. F. Basque:—late L. Vasco an inhabitant of Vasconia, the country upon the slopes of the western Pyrenees.]
A. n. [Senses 3 and 4 may have some connexion with Basque dress and habits, but may also be of distinct origin.]
1. A native of Biscay; name of the ancient race inhabiting both slopes of the western Pyrenees, adjacent to the Bay of Biscay, who speak a language of non-Aryan origin.
| 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 543/1 In the middle ages the Basques were notorious for their propensity to brigandage. 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 368 Representing the Basques as the special descendants of the ancient Iberians. |
2. The language of this race, of which there are many distinct dialects and sub-dialects.
| 1860 All Y. Round No. 68. 420 The Basque and Béarnais along the Western Pyrenees. 1878 N. Amer. Rev. 368 He studied the Basque in order to verify these conclusions. |
† 3. A dish of minced mutton, mixed with bread-crumbs, eggs, anchovies, wine, lemon-peel, etc., and baked in the ‘caul of a leg of veal.’ Obs.
| 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 107 A Basque of Mutton. |
4. The continuation, formerly of a doublet or waistcoat, now only of a lady's bodice, slightly below the waist, forming a kind of short skirt. Sometimes used of the bodice thus extended.
| [1611 Cotgr., Basque de pourpoint, the skirt of a doublet.] 1860 Rutledge 75 Putting my hands in the pockets of my Basque. 1884 Harper's Mag. Oct. 788/1 A brown over-skirt and basque of an obsolete cut. 1885 Globe 31 Jan. 7/4 The bodice, with basques cut open in front. |
B. adj. Of or pertaining to the Basques. Basque beret, Basque cap, a soft, close-fitting cap resembling that worn by Basque peasants.
| 1817 Frere Whistlecraft in Byron's Wks. (1846) 144/2 Many a lay Asturian, or Armoric, Irish, Basque. 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 543/2 The Basque nation is certainly the first that settled in the Spanish peninsula. 1926 Hemingway Fiesta (1927) xiii. 154 Brett was wearing a Basque beret. 1928 Galsworthy Swan Song ii. v. 146 Everything now depended on the Basque cap. If women took to them, shingling would stay. 1941 Koestler Scum of Earth 132 He wore a strange sort of Basque beret. |