peruke

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pəˈɹuːk/ (UK); /pəˈɹuk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French perruque (“head of hair; wig”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Old Italian perrucca, parrucca “head of hair, wig”,^[2][3][4][5] of uncertain origin.^[3][4][6] A link with Latin pilus “hair” has been suggested, but the OED finds the sound changes difficult.^[4] Compare periwig.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A natural head of hair (1548).^[3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a wig, false hair, is recorded from the 1560s.^[4][7][5] Large perukes with curls falling on the shoulders were worn from about 1660 to 1725, and smaller ones later;^[4] a reminder survives in the wigs of British judges and barristers.^[4] The old sense of natural hair is obsolete.^[7][4]

Timeline

• 1548 – a natural head of hair.^[3][7]
• 1565–73 – a wig.^[7][5]
• 1660–1725 – large curled perukes in fashion.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A wig, especially one worn by men in the 17th and 18th centuries, often powdered and tied at the back; a periwig.

Word family

• peruked
• perukeless

Related words

• periwig
• wig
• perruquier

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press