wig

Shortening 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!

• enPR: wĭg, IPA^(key): /wɪɡ/

• Audio (US)

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Rhymes: -ɪɡ

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

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
   • 1959=50, William Makepeace Thackeray, Pendennis, ch 12

     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.

• hairpiece
• toupee, toupe
• peruke
• periwig

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.
3. (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.

4. (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

• wiggins
• wig out

• earwig
• merkin
• periwig
• peruke

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

From Dutch wig.

• IPA^(key): /vəχ/

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wig (plural wîe)

1. wedge
2. quoin

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

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• Rhymes: -ɪx
• IPA^(key): /ʋɪx/

• Jersey Dutch: wäx, wäxxi (from the diminutive)

wig f (plural wiggen, diminutive wiggetje n)

1. wedge

wig

1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌹𐌲

• IPA^(key): /wiːj/

From Proto-West Germanic *wīg.

wīġ n

1. (poetic or in compounds) war, battle

• ānwīġ
• wīġbora
• wīġcræft

Variant of wēoh.

wīġ m

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

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

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

wīg n

1. war, battle

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

wig n

1. horse, steed

From English wig.

wig m or f (plural wigiau or wigs)

1. wig

• 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