wig

English

Etymology

Clipping of periwig, itself an alteration of French perruque. The meaning of "to reprimand" perhaps came from this being something a bigwig would do or perhaps from the expressions to flip one's wig, wigs on the green, or dash my wig!

Pronunciation

• enPR: wĭg, IPA^(key): /wɪɡ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Rhymes: -ɪɡ

• Homophone: Whig (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

wig (plural wigs)

1. A head of real or synthetic hair worn on the head to disguise baldness, for cultural or religious reasons, for fashion, or by actors to help them better resemble the character they are portraying.
2. A bigwig
   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 12, in The History of Pendennis. , volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, , published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     Ye’ve been grossly deceived and put upon, Milly, and it’s my belief his old ruffian of an uncle in a wig is in the plot against us.

3. (dated, among fishermen) An old seal.

Synonyms

• hairpiece
• toupee, toupe
• peruke
• periwig

Hyponyms

• wiglet

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

wig (third-person singular simple present wigs, present participle wigging, simple past and past participle wigged)

1. To put on a wig; to provide with a wig (especially of an actor etc.).
2. (transitive, colloquial) To upbraid, reprimand.
4. (intransitive, colloquial, slang) To act in an extremely emotional way; to be overly excited, irritable, nervous, or fearful; behave erratically.

   That guy must be high. Look how he's wigging.

5. (transitive, MLE, slang) To shoot in the head.
   • 2020, CR1 of Hoxton (lyrics and music), “EC1 Block Bully”‎, 1:26:

     And I don't know nothin bout slippin
     Zombie killer or rambo twinnin
     Or a long pole like scaffold
     Just tryna rise and aim and wig him

Related terms

• wiggins
• wig out

Interjection

wig

1. (LGBT, Internet slang) An expression of shock. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Related terms

• have one's wig snatched

See also

• earwig
• merkin
• periwig
• peruke

See also

• piggy-wig

Further reading

• wig on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Wig in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch wig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vəχ/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

wig (plural wîe)

1. wedge
2. quoin

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wegghe, from Old Dutch *weggi, from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋɪx/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪx

Noun

wig f (plural wiggen, diminutive wiggetje n)

1. wedge

   Synonyms: keg, keil, spie

Derived terms

Descendants

• Jersey Dutch: wäx, wäxxi

Gothic

Romanization

wig

1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌹𐌲

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiːj/

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *wīg.

Noun

wīġ n

1. (poetic or in compounds) war, battle

Declension

Derived terms

• ānwīġ
• wīġbora
• wīġcræft

Descendants

• Middle English: wiȝe, wi, wy

Etymology 2

Variant of wēoh.

Noun

wīġ m

1. idol
2. (in compounds) holy, consecrated

Declension

Derived terms

• wīġweorþung (“idol-worship”)
• wīġbed > wēofod (“altar”)
• wīġsmiþ (“idol-carver”)

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *wīg, from Proto-Germanic *wīgą, from Proto-Indo-European *weyk-.

Noun

wīg n

1. war, battle

Declension

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *wigi, from Proto-Germanic *wigją, from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to carry; move; transport; ride”).

Noun

wig n

1. horse, steed

Declension

Welsh

Etymology

From English wig.

Noun

wig m or f (plural wigiau or wigs, not mutable)

1. wig

Mutation

H-prothesis does not affect this word as the ⟨w⟩ here represents the semivowel /w/ rather than a vowel sound.

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “wig”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies