PERUKE  , an artificial

head of hair, a wig . The word is from Fr. perruque, an adaptation of Ital. perruca or parrucca . This is usually taken to be from Ital. pelo, hair; Lat. piles . Span. peluca, wig, and Sardinian pilucca, lock or tuft of hair, support this view . In the 17th century the English forms which the French word took, such as perruck or perug, were corrupted into perwyke, and thence into perewyk, perewig, and lastly " periwig," which again was shortened into " wig," the common term for all types of artificial heads of hair . Periwig is sometimes confined to the heavy full-bottomed wigs worn from the reign of Charles II. to the introduction of the light, tailed wig of the 18th century .