postiche

English

WOTD – 13 November 2010

Etymology

From French postiche.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɒsˈtiːʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɑˈstiʃ/, /pɔˈstiʃ/

Noun

postiche (plural postiches or postiche)

1. Any item of false hair worn on the head or face, such as a false beard or wig.
   • 1993, Patsy Baker, Wigs & Makeup for Theatre, Television, and Film, page 150:

     This type of postiche is called a 'combination wig' because it mixes hand-made work with machine-made work.

   • 2001, Allan Peterkin, One Thousand Beards: A cultural history of facial hair, page 17:

     […] both kings and queens enjoyed wearing lavish fake beards made of gold and silver called postiches, which were strapped behind the ears like a Halloween mask.

Hyponyms

• (false hair): hairpiece, toupee, weave, wig

Translations

any item of false hair worn on the head or face

French: postiche (fr), toupet (fr) Greek: ποστίς (el) n (postís) Italian: posticcio (it) Persian: پوستیژ (postiž) Polish: tresa (pl) f, treska (pl) f Russian: накладные (ru) (nakladnyje) во́лосы (ru) (vólosy) Spanish: postizo (es)

Adjective

postiche (not comparable)

1. (art) Added after the work is finished.

Anagrams

• Peschito, potiches

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian posticcio, from Late Latin appositīcius, from Latin appōnō (“put or place near”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔs.tiʃ/

Noun

postiche f (plural postiches)

1. toupee, hairpiece, wig
2. false moustache, false beard

Descendants

• → English: postiche

Adjective

postiche (plural postiches)

1. artificial; false

References

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

Anagrams

• chipotes