Whisk

Whisk

Whisk

Related to the standing collar and the ruff, the whisk was an especially stiff and ornate neck decoration worn during the first decades of the seventeenth century. Like many fashion trends of this period, the whisk originated in Spain, and evolved from the golilla. The golilla was a collar of stiffened fabric or cardboard that was trimmed in lace and worn with another fabric collar. Adapted for use in England, Germany, and Flanders (present-day Belgium and Netherlands), the whisk was a wide standing collar that was often held in place by a wire framework and made of ornate lace or scalloped fabric. The whisk was rounded in back of the head and had a straight edge that stood over either shoulder.

Ornate almost to the point of excess, whisks represented the high point of the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth-century trend toward ornament. They made moving the head uncomfortable, and were often worn with another collar, adding to the difficulty. By midcentury they had been replaced by the more practical standing and falling bands.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Payne, Blanche, Geitel Winakor, and Jane Farrell-Beck. The History of Costume. 2nd ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.

Yarwood, Doreen. The Encyclopedia of World Costume. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.

[See also Volume 3, Seventeenth Century: Falling and Standing Bands ]

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Whisk." Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Whisk." Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3425500329.html

"Whisk." Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3425500329.html

Learn more about citation styles

whisk

whisk / (h)wisk/ • v. 1. [tr.] take or move (someone or something) in a particular direction suddenly and quickly: his jacket was whisked away for dry cleaning. ∎  move (something) through the air with a light, sweeping movement: hippopotamuses spread their scents by whisking their tails. 2. [tr.] beat or stir (a substance, esp. cream or eggs) with a light, rapid movement. 3. brush with a whisk broom. • n. 1. a utensil for whipping eggs or cream. 2. short for whisk broom. 3. (also fly whisk) a bunch of grass, twigs, or bristles for removing dust or flies. 4. [in sing.] a brief, rapid action or movement: a whisk around St. Basil's cathedral.

whisks

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"whisk." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"whisk." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-whisk.html

"whisk." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-whisk.html

Learn more about citation styles

whisk

whisk sb. (XIV) and vb. (XV) denoting light rapid sweeping motion. orig. wisk, wysk (quhisk XV) and first in Sc. texts; — Scand. stem repr. by ON. visk wisp, Sw. viska besom, wisp, viska whisk (off), sponge, Norw. visk wisp, corr. to (M)Du. wisch wisp, LG. wisk quick movement, OHG. wisc (G. wisch) wisp of hay, wisken (wischen) wipe, †move briskly, f. symbolic Gmc. base *wisk-.
Hence whisker (-ER1) †fan, †switch, (dial.) feather brush XV; hair on the face, †moustache XVI.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

T. F. HOAD. "whisk." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "whisk." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-whisk.html

T. F. HOAD. "whisk." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-whisk.html

Learn more about citation styles

Whisk

Whisk

a bundle or tuft of twigs, hair, feathers, etc.; a small bunch of grass; a swarm of insects moving quickly. Also, wisp.

Examples: whisk of feathers; flowers, 1848; of mushroom fly, 1867; of hair; of insects; of straw, 1862; of twigs.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Whisk." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Whisk." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505301730.html

"Whisk." Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. 1985. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505301730.html

Learn more about citation styles

whisk

whiskBasque, Monégasque •ask, bask, cask, flask, Krasnoyarsk, mask, masque, task •facemask •arabesque, burlesque, Dantesque, desk, grotesque, humoresque, Junoesque, Kafkaesque, Moresque, picaresque, picturesque, plateresque, Pythonesque, Romanesque, sculpturesque, statuesque •bisque, brisk, disc, disk, fisc, frisk, risk, whisk •laserdisc • obelisk • basilisk •odalisque • tamarisk • asterisk •mosque, Tosk •kiosk • Nynorsk • brusque •busk, dusk, husk, musk, rusk, tusk •subfusc • Novosibirsk •mollusc (US mollusk) • damask •Vitebsk •Aleksandrovsk, Sverdlovsk •Khabarovsk • Komsomolsk •Omsk, Tomsk •Gdansk, Murmansk, Saransk •Smolensk •Chelyabinsk, MinskDonetsk, Novokuznetsk •Irkutsk, Yakutsk

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"whisk." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"whisk." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-whisk.html

"whisk." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-whisk.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Research and Markets: Changing Face of the Global Whisk(e)y Market.
PR Newswire; 4/13/2005
Whisks.(Features)
Newspaper article from: The Mail on Sunday (London, England); 11/21/2010
Whisk skin care soap.(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Mass Market Retailers; 10/29/2001

Facts and information from other sites

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

See more pictures of Whisk