Here are the references for whippet from the Oxford English Dictionary, more commonly known as the OED. The OED contains etymological references. Etymology is essentially the study and tracing the history of words. Go to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/etymology for a full definition. An early reference [1550] of whippet is "a light and lively lass" (I wouldn't mind one of those too). In terms of dogs, prior to the 1610 reference was the use of whappet which is referenced as a mangy cur or whiney dog. Not to a type of dog in terms of breed such as the later references.
4. a. A small breed of dog; now spec. a cross between a greyhound and a terrier or spaniel, used for coursing and racing, esp. in the north of England.
With the earliest examples cf. WHAPPET.
a1610 HEALEY Theophrastus (1616) 75 If a little dog or whippet of his dye, ô hee makes him a tombe.
c1615 W. GODDARD Mastiff Whelp G3, Too loude thou barkest Whelpe, I must haue whippets now, that doe but yelpe.
1630 J. TAYLOR (Water P.) Dogge of Warre Wks. II. 232 The little Curre, Whippet, or House-dogge.
1645 MILTON Colast. 26 If a man cannot peaceably walk into the world, but must bee infested..with bauling whippets, and shin-barkers.
1665 in Sporting Mag. XLII. 10 To seize..all such greyhounds, beagles, or whipperts [sic].
1841 HARTSHORNE Salopia Antiqua 614 Whippet, a dog bred betwixt a greyhound and a spaniel.
1884 St. James's Gaz. 18 Oct. 6/2, I found a man training a wiry racing-dog... The ‘whippet’ strode along with great earnestness.attrib. and Comb.
1885 Bazaar 30 Mar. 1260/3 Fawn whippet bitch for sale.
1894 F. LLOYD Whippet & Race-Dog viii. 45 The National Whippet-racing Club. Ibid. xi. 73 A most important personage on the Whippet-track is the clerk of the scales.
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Full Listing for Whippet
ReplyDelete1. ? Some light wine. Obs.
c1500 Blowbol's Test. 50 (MS. Rawl. C. 86 lf. 107b) Good drynke he louyd better than he did wepit. Ibid. 337. 112 Malmasyes, Tires, and Rumneys,..Whippett and Pyngmedo.
2. A lively young woman; a light wench; now dial. a nimble, diminutive, or puny person.
1550 CROWLEY Epigr. 1331 All modeste matrons I truste wyll take my parte, As for nice whippets, wordes Shall not come nye my hert. 1596 NASHE Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 158 Those worthlesse Whippets and Iack Strawes hee could get, he would seeme to enable and compare with the highest. 1597 BRETON Wit's Trenchmour Wks. (Grosart) II. 15/1 Why, quoth this Whippet, if I should tell you I loue you [etc.].
3. A sudden brisk movement. Obs. rare1.
a1603 T. CARTWRIGHT Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 431 As soone as ever [the dog] seeth [the rost] taken from the fire, he giveth a whippet from his wheele.
4. a. A small breed of dog; now spec. a cross between a greyhound and a terrier or spaniel, used for coursing and racing, esp. in the north of England.
With the earliest examples cf. WHAPPET.
a1610 HEALEY Theophrastus (1616) 75 If a little dog or whippet of his dye, ô hee makes him a tombe.
c1615 W. GODDARD Mastiff Whelp G3, Too loude thou barkest Whelpe, I must haue whippets now, that doe but yelpe.
1630 J. TAYLOR (Water P.) Dogge of Warre Wks. II. 232 The little Curre, Whippet, or House-dogge.
1645 MILTON Colast. 26 If a man cannot peaceably walk into the world, but must bee infested..with bauling whippets, and shin-barkers.
1665 in Sporting Mag. XLII. 10 To seize..all such greyhounds, beagles, or whipperts [sic].
1841 HARTSHORNE Salopia Antiqua 614 Whippet, a dog bred betwixt a greyhound and a spaniel.
1884 St. James's Gaz. 18 Oct. 6/2, I found a man training a wiry racing-dog... The ‘whippet’ strode along with great earnestness.
attrib. and Comb.
1885 Bazaar 30 Mar. 1260/3 Fawn whippet bitch for sale.
1894 F. LLOYD Whippet & Race-Dog viii. 45 The National Whippet-racing Club. Ibid. xi. 73 A most important personage on the Whippet-track is the clerk of the scales.
b. transf. Mil. The Medium Mark A ‘tank’, a light kind of ‘tank’ used in the war of 1914-18. Also called chaser. Usually attrib. as whippet tank.
1918 Times 15 Aug. 7/6 The..capture of Morlancourt, where light Tanks or whippets were used. 1918 E. W. FARROW Dict. Mil. Terms 664 Whippet tank, an English armored car equipped with caterpillar treads. 1920 J. F. C. FULLER Tanks in Gt. War 176 March 26 [1918] is an interesting date in the history of the Tank Corps, for, on the afternoon of this day, the Whippet Tanks made their debut. 1938 G. GREENE in Spectator 22 July 139/2 Whippet tankscamouflaged as in war. 1946 New Yorker 9 Mar. 83/1 Solid city blocks of whippet and giant tanks.
5. A little whip. Obs. rare1.
1616 SURFL. & MARKH. Country Farm I. xxviii. 132 He shall not vse anie thing else to ride him [sc. horse] with, saue onely his whippet and trench.
6. ‘A short light petticoat’ (Forby). dial. Obs.
Hence whippeteer, whippeter, a person who keeps a whippet (sense 4); whippeting, n. the breeding, training, etc. of whippets; a. engaged in this.
1894 SIR J. D. ASTLEY Fifty Yrs. Life II. 337 The principal whippeteers are colliers in Lancashire.
1894 F. LLOYD Whippet & Race-Dog vii. 44 Everything connected with Whippeting. Ibid. ix. 58 Some Whippeting people. Ibid. xxiv. 174 Common names have been given by Whippeters to the dogs.