whimsy, whimsey, n. (a.)
(ˈhwɪmzɪ)
Forms: 7 whim-, whymzie, whimsee, 7–8 whimzy, 8 whymsey, 7–9 whimsie, whims(e)y.
[See whim-wham.]
A. n. I. † 1. Dizziness, giddiness, vertigo. Obs.
| 16.. Middleton, etc. Old Law iii. ii, I ha' got the scotomy in my head already, The whimsey: you all turn round. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Scotomatical, that is troubled with such a whimsey in the head. |
† 2. A wench.
Obs. rare.
| 1614 B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. iv, And shall we ha' smockes Vrsla, and good whimsies, ha? a 1625 Fletcher Bloody Brother iv. ii, You'l pick a bottle open, or a whimsey, As soon as the best of us. |
3. a. = whim n.1 3.
| 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iii. i, I can feele A whimsey i' my bloud: (I know not how) Successe hath made me wanton. 1628 Venner Baths of Bathe (1650) 365 Such as have their pates full of outlandish whimsies. 1646 J. Hall Horæ Vac. 31 That whimsey of Pythagoras of the transmigration of Soules. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. i. i. 7 note, Our Inability to live in too rare and light an Air may discourage those vain Attempts of Flying, and Whimsies of passing to the Moon. 1803 Jefferson Writ. (1830) III. 508 Plato, who only used the name of Socrates to cover the whimsies of his own brain. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 164 Both had what seemed extravagant whimsies about dress, diversions, and postures. 1891 Besant St. Katherine's i. vi, Why, I was young once, and had my own whimsies like the rest. |
b. = whim n.1 3 b.
arch.| a 1680 Glanvill Sadducismus ii. (1681) 50 All this is Whimsey and Fiction. 1709 Shaftesbury Charac. (1711) II. 337 In One there are the Marks of Wisdom and Determination; in the other, of Whimsy and Conceit. 1775 Wraxall Tour N. Eur. 121 It may just as well be called an European structure, where whimsy and caprice form the predominant character. 1881 Blackmore Christowell xlviii, They winnow my gatherings on every wind of whimsy. |
4. = whim n.1 2 a.
| 1712 H. More's Antid. Ath. iii. ix. §2. Schol. 169 Engrav'd with Characters, and other Magical whimsies of this sort. 1785 J. Collier Mus. Trav. (ed. 4) 62 The Italian whimsies and tweedle-dums, that people played upon in these days. 1791 Cowper Yardley Oak 118 Thy root..A quarry of stout spurs, and knotted fangs,..crook'd into a thousand whimsies. 1860–1 D. Coleridge in Phil. Soc. Trans. 164 The proposed Dictionary..must include many a mere whimsey and many a gross corruption. 1906 E. V. Lucas Wand. in Lond. i. 14 The lodge in the garden of the Record Office. This little architectural whimsy might be the abode of an urban fairy or gnome. |
II. † 5. A merry-go-round, roundabout.
Obs.| 1684 Ballads illustr. Gt. Frost (Percy Soc.) 4 There were Dutch whimsies turned swiftly round Faster then horses run on level ground. |
6. a. = whim n.1 4.
local.
| 1789 J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 430 This may be done..with a small horse-gin or whimsy, instead of a windlass, for drawing the water and work in sinking. 1836 Hull & Selby Railw. Act 44 To make use of any gins, whimsies, tackling, ropes, machines. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 319 In Cornwall, a kibble, in which the ore is raised in the shafts, by machines called whims or whimseys. |
b. (See
quot.)
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Whimsey, a small crane for hoisting goods to the upper stories of warehouses. |
7. a. Glass-making. (See
quot.)
| 1856 H. Chance in Jrnl. Soc. Arts IV. 224/2 Still whirling, the table [of crown glass], as it is now called, is carried off, laid flat upon a support called a whimsey, detached by shears from the ponty, [etc.]. |
b. A small object made by a glass-maker or potter for his own amusement.
| 1938 A. Fleming Scottish & Jacobite Glass ix. 109 Dame Fashion..seems to settle upon glass as a favourite and satisfactory medium of decoration. Other ‘wimsies’ are cheap little fantastic groups of figures, fruit and flowers delicately made from a tube modelled by a tool with infallible dexterity. 1976 Canadian Collector (Toronto) Mar.–Apr. 23/1 We were able to locate several more examples of the whimseys produced by the last potter. |
B. adj. Whimsical.
| 1632 Shirley Hyde Park ii. ii, Ieere on, my whimsy Lady. 1867 Lanier Strange Jokes 7 Poems (1892) 217 Once in a whimsey mood he sat. 1913 G. S. Porter Laddie xiv, Laddie studied the sky, a whimsy smile on his lips. |
C. attrib. and
Comb., as
whimsy-pate,
whimsy-shaft;
whimsy-headed adj.;
† whimsy-board, ? a board or table used in some game of chance, or on which different objects were carried about for sale.
| a 1704 T. Brown Lett. Living to Dead Wks. 1720 II. 19, I am sometimes a small Retainer to a Billiard-Table, and sometimes, when the Master on't is sick, earn a Penny by a *Whimsy-Board. 1708 W. King Art of Cookery (1709) 99 Then Pippins did in Wheel-barrows abound, And Oranges in Whimsey-boards went round. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4659/3 He frequents the Cock Pits and Gaming Houses, Whimsy Boards. |
| 1698 E. Ward Lond. Spy iii. (1706) 63 The first *Whimsie-headed Wretch of this Lunatick Family. |
| 1682 Winyard Mercurius Menip. 6 His *Whimsie-Meagrim must be an Ecstasie. |
| 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iii. iv. 88 What a company..doth this phantasticall *whimzy-pate gather. |
| 1821 W. Forster Section of Strata (ed. 2) 331 *Whimsey Shafts may be sunk to the depth of ten..fathoms. |
Hence
ˈwhimsily adv.,
ˈwhimsiness.
| 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iv. iii. 188, I love Toboso, and I know not why, Only I say, I love her (whimsyly). 1909 Daily Chron. 14 Sept. 5/3 To..indulge his political whimsiness. 1980 P. Moyes Angel Death xviii. 237 The whimsily-drawn pamphlet which they gave to visitors. |