visage

See also: Visage and vissage

English

Etymology

From Middle English visage, from Anglo-Norman visage, from Vulgar Latin *vīsāticum, derived from Latin vīsus (“appearance, sight”), derived from vidēre (“to see”). Compare vision.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪzɪd͡ʒ/, /vɪˈsɑd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪzɪd͡ʒ

Noun

visage (plural visages)

1. Countenance; appearance; one's face.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:countenance

   • 1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 6:

     [T]he monſter, rouſed by the noiſe, ſtarted forward, preſented ſuch a viſage of horror, and raiſed ſuch a hideous roar, that the hearts of the bold were contracted, and the nerves of the valiant unſtrung.

   • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XX, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC, page 334:

     Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was.

Related terms

• visaged
• envisage
• evidence
• vision
• visionary
• visual
• visualization
• visualize

Translations

countenance; appearance; face

• Arabic: مَلَامِح m pl (malāmiḥ), سِحْنَة (ar) f (siḥna)
• Bulgarian: лице (bg) n (lice), образ (bg) m (obraz), изражение (bg) n (izraženie)
• Georgian: სახე (saxe), გამომეტყველება (gamomeṭq̇veleba)
• German: Gesicht (de) n
• Hungarian: arc (hu)
• Indonesian: roman, rupa muka
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ڕوخسار (ruxsar)

• Latin: vultus m, facies (de) f
• Persian: چهره (fa) (čehre), رخ (fa) (rox), رخسار (fa) (roxsâr), سیما (fa) (simâ)
• Polish: oblicze (pl) n
• Russian: выраже́ние лица (ru) n (vyražénije lica)

Further reading

• “visage”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “visage”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Veigas

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French visage, from vis (from Latin visus) + -age, or possibly a Vulgar Latin *visāticum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi.zaʒ/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

visage m (plural visages)

1. face (of a human)

   Synonyms: (vulgar) tronche; (slang) bouille; (vulgar) gueule; figure

Synonyms

• face (only used in certain constructions, or in Canada)

Derived terms

• dévisager
• envisager
• montrer son vrai visage
• se voir comme le nez au milieu du visage
• trouver visage de bois
• visagiste

 

Further reading

• “visage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French visage.

Noun

visage (plural visages)

1. (anatomy) face

Synonyms

• face

Descendants

• English: visage

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *vīsāticum, derived from Latin vīsus. By surface analysis, vis +‎ -age. Compare Old Occitan vizatge.

Noun

visage oblique singular, m (oblique plural visages, nominative singular visages, nominative plural visage)

1. (anatomy) face

   Synonyms: vis, face, volt

Descendants

• Bourguignon: vizaige
• French: visage
  • → Esperanto: vizaĝo
• → Middle English: visage
  • English: visage
• → Italian: visaggio