▪ I. periwig, n. Now only Hist.
(ˈpɛrɪwɪg)
Forms: α. 6 perwyke, perewyke; 6–7 perwick(e, 7 peri-, perawick(e; perewake; periwike. β. 6–7 perwig, perewig(e, perywygge, perrywig, -wigge, perriwigg(e, 6–8 periwigg(e, perriwig, perrewig, perywig, periwyg, -weg, 6– periwig. γ. 6 periwinke, pere-, periwincle, 7–8 periwinkle.
[In 16th c., perwyke, alteration of ˈperruck, ˈperug, a. F. perruque (15th c.): see peruke. By corruption, or ‘popular etymology’, perwyke became perewyke, perewig, perrywig, periwig, whence by abbreviation, wig.]
1. An artificial imitation of a head of hair (or part of one); worn formerly, first by women and then by men, as a fashionable head-dress; retained by judges, barristers, etc., as part of their professional costume; used by actors as a part of their make-up, and generally as a means of personal disguise, a concealment of premature grey hairs, or a covering for baldness; a wig.
| α 1529 Privy Purse Exp. Hen. VIII (1827) 13 For a perwyke for Sexten the kinges fole. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 902 The perwyke, la perrucque. 1568 Sir F. Knollys Let. to Cecil in Antiq. Rep. (1808) II. 394 She [Mary Seaton] did set sotche a curled Heare upon the Queen [Mary Stuart], that was said to be a Perewyke, that shoed very delycately. 1648–60 Hexham, Hooft-hayr, Head-haire, or a Perwick. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 463 The sorts of perawicks are, a short bob, a long perawick with side hair.., a grafted wig [etc.]. |
| β 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 116 Take from them their perywigges, their paintings [etc.]..and thou shalt soone perceiue that a woman is the least parte of hir selfe. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World v. iii. §5 He was..glad to vse Perwigs of haire, and false beards of diuers colours. 1641 Milton Animadv. i. 7 To have the Periwigs pluk't off that cover your baldnesse. 1656 Wood Life 4 Sept. (O.H.S.) I. 209, I bought me a perewige of my barber, 6s. 1667 Pepys Diary 29 Mar., To a periwigg-maker's, and there bought two periwiggs mighty fine. 1710–11 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 15 Jan., It has cost me three guineas to-day for a periwig. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 334 They took an old huge full-bottomed perriwig out of the wardrobe of the antiquated frippery of Louis XIV. 1865 M. E. Braddon Sir Jasper i, It related to..a time in which men wore fantastically frizzed periwigs upon their heads. |
| γ 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Perruquier, he that maketh Perewincles. 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. iii. v. 8 Th' unruly winde blowes off his periwinke. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Periwinkle, a Perruque or Periwig. 1730–6 in Bailey (folio). |
† b. transf. and fig. Obs.
| 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet D, Martins conscience hath a periwig; therefore to good men he is more sower than wig. 1596 B. Griffin Fidessa (1876) 46 So soone as peeping Lucifer Auroraes starre, The skie with golden perewigs doth spangle. a 1661 Fuller Worthies i. (1662) 77, I left a Vacuity for them. For which Bald Place, the Reader (if so pleased) may provide a Perewake. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 59 When a Place is bald of Wood, no Art can make it a Perriwig in hast. |
† 2. An alleged kind of marine animal: see quots.
| 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. i. ix. 36 The luscious Lobster with the Crabfish raw, The Brinish Oister, Muscle, Periwigge. Ibid. 39 The Perewig is a kind of fish that lyeth in the oaze like a head of haire, which being touched conveyes itself leaving nothing to bee seene but a small round hole. 1670 S. Clarke Four Chiefest Plant. 37. 1672 J. Josselyn New Eng. Rarities 29 Periwig,..Perwinkle or Sea Snail or Whelk. 1674 ― Voy. New Eng. (1675) 110 The Perriwig is a shell-fish that lyeth in the Sands flat and round as a shovel-board piece and very little thicker; these at a little hole in the middle of the shell thrust out a cap of hair, but upon the least motion of any danger it drawes it in again. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as periwig-company, periwig-maker, etc.; periwig-pated adj.
| 1598 Florio, Perucchiera, a periwig [1611 perwig] or gregorian maker. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 10 To see a robustious Pery-wig pated [Qos. Perwig-pated] Fellow, teare a Passion to tatters. 1663 Newes 4 Feb., George Grey, a Barber and Perrywigge-maker [notifies] that any one having long flaxen hayr to sell may repayr to him. 1744–50 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. II. i. 72 (E.D.S.) Thetches, when they are sown thick and grow well, commonly run into a periwig matting growth. 1813 Examiner 10 May 297/2 Young periwig-pated gentlemen. 1834 Macaulay Ess., Pitt (1887) 306 The periwig-company. |
▪ II. ˈperiwig, v. arch.
[f. prec. n.]
a. trans. To put a periwig on; to dress, cover, or conceal with, or as with, a periwig. Often fig.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iv. Handie-cr. 187 To glaze the Lakes, and bridle up the floods And perriwig with wooll the balde-pate woods. 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. ii. 168 Map-makers, rather then they will haue their maps naked and bald, do periwig them with false hair, and fill up the vacuum with imaginary places. 1658 Bromhall Treat. Specters iv. 254 Phœbus's harbinger, did periwigg the horizon with his silver'd locks. 1733 Swift Legion Club 91 Discord periwig'd with snakes. 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 50 The..ginger-bread bakers periwig a few plum-buns with sugar-frost. a 1843 Southey Comm.-pl. Bk. IV. 258/2 To lard a good story with prettinesses, were like periwigging and powdering the Apollo Belvidere. |
† b. To make (hair) into a wig. Obs. rare—1.
| 1606 Warner Alb. Eng. xvi. cii. 402 The haire..was perwigged, once Hers. |