visard

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪzə(ɹ)d/

Verb

visard (third-person singular simple present visards, present participle visarding, simple past and past participle visarded)

1. To mask.

Noun

visard (plural visards)

1. A mask.
   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

     Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue ;
     Nor never come in visard to my friend

2. An oval mask of black velvet, worn by travelling women in the 16th century to protect their skin from sunburn.

Related terms

• vizard, vizzard

References

• “visard”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.