Visor, vizor sb.

Forms: α. 4–7 viser, vyser 6 wesser); 5 visere, vysere, Sc. veseir, -ere. β. 5–6 visar, Sc. wysar, 6 vysar, 6–7 (9) vizar; Sc. 5–6 wesar, 6 vesar, vezar. γ. 5 vesoure, 6 visoure, vysour(e, 7 vizour, 6–7 (9) visour; 6– visor, vizor (7 vizzor). [a. AF. viser, f. F. vis face, VICE sb.³ Cf. VISIERE and VISURE.]

  1.  The front part of a helmet, covering the face but provided with holes or openings to admit of seeing and breathing, and capable of being raised and lowered; sometimes spec. the upper portion of this.

  α.  13[?].  Coer de L., 323. Hys pusen therwith gan gon, And also hys brandellet bon, Hys vyser and hys gorgere.

c. 1330.  R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 8552. By þe vyser he hym hent, & held it til he had sesed his nekke.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 7092. He … voidet his viser, auentid hym seluyn.

1412–20.  Lydg., Chron. Troy, I. 4185. Lamedoun, with a despiteous chere, From his face raced his visere.

1464.  Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.), 194. My mastyr lent hym … a salat wyth a vesere of meleyn.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, V. xii. 181. Thenne the kyng aualyd his vyser with a meke & noble countenaunce.

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, cxliv. 540. Then Gloryand and Malabrone lyft vp theyr wessers and shewyd theyr faces.

1611.  Cotgr., Visiere, the viser, or sight of an helmet.

  β.  c. 1470.  Henry, Wallace, VIII. 830. Ane other awkwart apon the face tuk he; Wysar and frount bathe in the feild gert fle. Ibid., X. 386. Graym … smate that knycht in teyn, Towart the wesar, a litill be neth the eyn.

1507.  Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., III. 367. Item, for ane vesar to ane gret hewmond and ane litill gard that beris the gret gard,… lvj s.

1508.  Dunbar, Poems, vii. 76.

1530.  Palsgr., 285/1. Vysar of harnes, uisiere dung armet.

  γ.  1459.  Paston Lett., I. 487. Item, viii. saletts, white, withe out vesoure.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., III. vii. 42. She … made him low incline his lofty crest, And bowd his battred visour to his brest.

1599.  Shaks., Much Ado, II. i. 99. Why then your visor should be thatcht.

1728.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Helmet, Dukes and Princes have their Helmet, damask’d, fronting, the Vizor almost open, and without Bars.

1796.  Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 35. In this state nearly globular,… resembling in figure an antique helmet with a vizor.

1803.  Scott, Cadyow Castle, xxxix. From the raised vizor’s shade, his eye, Dark-rolling, glanced the ranks along.

1836.  Thirlwall, Greece, xvi. II. 336. He was pierced with a shaft of a javelin through the visor of his helmet.

1879.  Green, Read. Eng. Hist., xvii. 82. They were in mail with their vizors down.

  b.  U.S. The stiff rounded part on the front of a cap; = PEAK sb.² 1 c.

1864.  Webster.

1892.  Bierce, In Midst of Life, 95. His cap was worn with the visor a trifle askew.

  2.  A mask to conceal the face; a vizard.

  α.  13[?].  Seuyn Sages (W.), 2779. A viser he made more, Two faces bihinde and two before.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., II. 226. Siche fendis wiþ þer visers maken men to flee pees.

c. 1485.  Wisdom, 755, in Digby Myst. (1896), 166. Here entre vj womane in sute, thre disgysede as galauntes, and thre as matrones, with wonderfulle vysers.

1509.  Barclay, Shyp of Folys (1570), 232. The one hath a viser vgly set on his face, Another hath on vile counterfaite vesture.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 16. Thei were appareled in garmentes long and brode … with visers and cappes of gold.

  β.  1530.  Palsgr., 285/1. Vysar for a mummar, faulx uisaige.

1539.  Act 31 Hen. VIII., c. 12. Any person … with his face hyde or covered withe hoode or vysar.

1547.  in Feuillerat, Revels Edw. VI. (1914), 14. Vezars or maskes for men & women.

1570.  Googe, Pop. Kingd., IV. 48. Their faces hid alone, With visars close.

1628.  Donne, Serm. (1640), 231. In the Resurrection, God shall put of that Vizar, and turne away that picture, and shew his own face.

a. 1689.  Mrs. Behn, trans. Cowley’s Plants, VI. 1426. His Image … Breaks through the Cloud of Darkness; and a Shine Gilds all the sooty Vizar!

  γ.  1511–2.  Act 3 Hen. VIII., c. 9. Preamble, Dyvers persones have disgysed and appareld theym, and covert theyr fayces with Vysours.

1555.  Eden, Decades, III. (Arb.), 184. The fouler in the meane tyme, disguysinge hym selfe as it were with a visour.

1578.  T. N., trans. Conq. W. India, 205. Each of those Idolles had a counterfaite visor with eies of glasse.

1628.  Wither, Brit. Rememb., II. 7. Lines, therefore, over-darke, or over-trimm’d, Are like a Picture with a Visour limm’d.

1682.  Flavel, Fear, 78. There are some things which are … scarecrows and vizors which children fear.

1693.  Humours Town, 127. You can never think an Amour began in a Vizor in the Play-house, will ever end in the Church.

1719.  Young, Busiris, III. i. The rest in vizors, fearing to be known, Have ventur’d thro’ the streets for your protection.

1797.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, vi. They were disguised in cloaks and visors.

a. 1839.  Praed, Poems (1864), II. 436. With a fearful vizor on his face, And a bright axe in his hand.

1906.  B. Capes, Loaves & Fishes, 146. The eyelets in its woollen visor were like holes scorched through by the burning gaze behind.

  3.  fig. (or in fig. contexts). An outward appearance or show under which something different is hid; a mask or disguise.

1532.  More, Confut. Tindale, Wks. 354/2. I shall so pull of theire gaye paynted visours, that euery man … shall plainlye perceiue and beholde the bare vgly gargyle faces of their abhominable heresie.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., I. vii. 1. The crafty cunning traine, By which deceipt doth maske in visour faire.

1606.  Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iv. Magnif., 590. All discover’d lies, The vizor’s off.

1653.  Holcroft, Procopius, Vand. Wars, I. 4. He concealed his dislike (their enmity being covered yet under a fair visour).

1692.  Washington, trans. Milton’s Def. Pop., ii. M.’s Wks. 1851, VIII. 41. I’ll make it appear that you have only put on a Knaves Vizor for the present.

1766.  Fordyce, Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767), I. iv. 132. A person proceeds by little and little to take off the visor.

1798.  Bragge, in Anti-Jacobin, 12 Feb. (1852), 61. But soon the vizor dropp’d.

1822.  Shelley, Chas. I., I. 76. When lawyers masque ’tis time for honest men To strip the vizor from their purposes.

1831.  Scott, Chron. Canongate, Introd. It appeared to him that it would have been an idle piece of affectation to attempt getting up a new incognito, after his original visor had been thus dashed from his brow.

1855.  Brewster, Newton, II. xv. 81. Nor can we justify his personal retreat from the battle-field, and his return under the vizor of an accomplished champion.

  b.  Const. of (the quality, etc., serving as a mask or disguise).

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 258. Under the viser of Envie, Lo, thus was hid the tricherie, Which hath beguiled manyon.

1547.  J. Harrison, Exhort. Scottes, D viij b. So apperyng to theim with a visor of simplicitie and holines … gat credite of vertue and Godlinesse.

1581.  J. Bell, Haddon’s Answ. Osor., 144. There is scarse any substaunce at all in Free will,… except a glorious visour of Title onely.

1614.  Raleigh, Hist. World, III. 65. This Vizzor of holie and zealous reuenge falling off, discouered the face of couetousnesse so much the more ouglie.

a. 1656.  Bp. Hall, Rem. Wks. (1660), 122. Those that are meer outsides and visors of Christianity.

1677.  W. Hubbard, Narrative, II. 32. He pulled off his Vizour of a friend, and discovered what he was.

1857.  C. Brontë, Professor, x. I had buckled on a breast-plate of steely indifference, and let down a visor of impassible austerity.

1860.  Warter, Sea-board, II. 19. She put on the vizar of religion.

  † 4.  A face or countenance; an outward aspect or appearance. Also fig. of immaterial things. Obs.

1575.  Vautrollier, Luther on Ep. Gal., 158. They looke onely vpon the outward visour of the lawe.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, I. iii. (1912), 21. This lowtish clowne is such, that you never saw so ill favourd a visar.

a. 1591.  H. Smith, Restit. Nebuchadn., 17. They which vnderstand not yet what is the booke of God, are but horse and mule, though they beare the visors of men.

1654.  R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 15. Sicknesse, Poverty, Exile, Death,… by expectation lessen the terror of their visors.

1693.  Congreve, Old Bach., III. vi. Lay by that Worldly Face and produce your natural Vizor.

  5.  A variety of pigeon (see quots.).

1879.  L. Wright, Pigeon Keeper, 179. Vizors are another and the last introduced of the short-billed Frilled Pigeons.

1881.  J. C. Lyell, Fancy Pigeons, 236. The Vizor. This variety was produced by crossing the domino with the satinette tribe, the object being to have coloured headed satinettes. Ibid. (1892), Pigeon-keeping, 102. The Vizor may be called a Bluette with coloured head, as in the Domino.

  6.  attrib. and Comb., as visor-clasp, -helm, -smile; vizor-faced, -like adjs.; visor-bearer, a Brazilian bird having head-feathers arranged like a visor.

1546.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 42. With visorlyke visage, suche as it was, She smirkt.

1598.  E. Guilpin, Skial. (1878), 36. This vizar-fac’t pole-head dissimulation, This parrasite.

1797.  T. Park, Sonn., 106. O! that the world would by her ways improve,… Nor wear the vizor-smile of feigned love.

1798.  Landor, Gebir, I. 51. His vizor-helm, His buckler and his corset [1803 corslet] he laid by.

1814.  Scott, Lord of Isles, VI. xxvii. Strong Egremont for air must gasp, Beauchamp undoes his visor-clasp.

1861.  Gould, Monogr. Trochilidæ, IV. Pl. 22. Augastes Scutatus, Natterer’s Vizor-bearer. Ibid., Pl. 222. Augastes Lumachellus, Hooded Vizor-bearer.

  b.  Visor-mask, (a) a form of disguising mask; a domino; (b) a prostitute. Cf. VIZARD-MASK.

  (a)  1672.  [H. Stubbe], Rosemary & Bayes, 11. Personam induere doth also signifie to put on a perruke and visor-mask.

1679.  Dryden, Limberham, V. i. I will put on my vizor-mask, however, for more security.

1700.  T. Brown, Amusem. Ser. & Com., v. 50. A Whore [is known] by a Vizor-Mask: And a Fool by Talking to her.

1713.  Guardian, No. 4, ¶ 1. Even Truth itself in a Dedication is like an Honest Man in a Disguise, or Vizor-Mask.

  (b)  1693.  Humours Town, 105. The Orange-Wenches, and the Vizor-Masks.

1694.  Congreve, Double Dealer, Epil. The Vizor-Masks, that are in Pit and Gallery, Approve, or Damn the Repartee and Rallery.