whirligig

English

WOTD – 10 July 2008

Whirligig, kinetic art
Public library, O'Fallon, Illinois

Alternative forms

• whirlgig, whirlygig

Etymology

From Middle English whirlegigge; equivalent to whirl (noun or verb) +‎ gig (“a top”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜː.lɪ.ɡɪɡ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝ.lɪ.ɡɪɡ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

whirligig (plural whirligigs)

1. Anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy top or a merry-go-round.
   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 275, columns 1–2:

     Why ſome are borne great, ſome atchieue greatneſſe, and ſome haue greatneſſe throwne vpon them. I was one ſir, in this Enterlude, one ſir Topas ſir, but that’s all one: By the Lo[r]d Foole, I am not mad: but do you remember, Madam, why laugh you at ſuch a barren raſcall, and you ſmile not he’s gag’d: and thus the whirlegigge of time, brings in his reuenges.

2. A device incorporating spinning, wind-driven propellers or pinwheels, used as whimsical outdoor decoration in a garden or on a porch.
3. A whirligig beetle.
4. (historical) A device for punishing prisoners, comprising a wooden cage that rapidly spins around to induce nausea.

Derived terms

• whirligig beetle

Translations

anything that whirls or spins around, such as a toy

• Bulgarian: пумпал (bg) m (pumpal), въртележка (bg) f (vǎrteležka)
• Finnish: väkkyrä
• Maori: tararī, takawairore
• Russian: вертушка (ru) f (vertuška)
• Turkish: fırıldak (tr)

See also

• yo-yo