wig [L17th] The English have a reputation for being bad at languages, and the history of wig seems to support that. Wig is a shortening of periwig [E16th], which is a mangling of the Middle French perrucque ‘wig’ via an English intermediate form perwyke. Perrucque is also the source of peruke [M16th], and was borrowed from Italian perrucca, but where that came from is not known.