sb. and a. [a. F. Basque:—late L. Vasco an inhabitant of Vasconia, the country upon the slopes of the western Pyrenees.]
A. sb. [Senses 3 and 4 may have some connection with Basque dress and habits, but may also be of distinct origin.]
1. A native of Biscay; name of the ancient race inhabiting both slopes of the western Pyrenees, adjacent to the Bay of Biscay, who speak a language of non-Aryan origin.
1835. Penny Cycl., III. 543/1. In the middle ages the Basques were notorious for their propensity to brigandage.
1878. N. Amer. Rev., CXXVI. 368. Representing the Basques as the special descendants of the ancient Iberians.
2. The language of this race, of which there are many distinct dialects and sub-dialects.
1860. All Y. Round, No. 68. 420. The Basque and Béarnais along the Western Pyrenees.
1878. N. Amer. Rev., 368. He studied the Basque in order to verify these conclusions.
† 3. A dish of minced mutton, mixed with breadcrumbs, eggs, anchovies, wine, lemon-peel, etc., and baked in the ‘caul of a leg of veal.’ Obs.
1769. Mrs. Raffald, Eng. Housekpr. (1778), 107. A Basque of Mutton.
4. The continuation, formerly of a doublet or waistcoat, now only of a lady’s bodice, slightly below the waist, forming a kind of short skirt. Sometimes used of the bodice thus extended.
1611. Cotgr., Basque de pourpoint, the skirt of a doublet.]
1860. [Mrs. M. C. Harris], Rutledge, v. 75. Putting my hands in the pockets of my basque.
1884. Harper’s Mag., Oct., 787/1. There was … a brown over-skirt and basque of an obsolete cut.
1885. Globe, 31 Jan., 7/4. The bodice, with basques cut open in front.
B. adj. Of or pertaining to the Basques.
1817. J. H. Frere, Whistlecraft, in Byron’s Wks. (1846), 144/2. Many a lay Asturian, or Armoric, Irish, Basque.
1835. Penny Cycl., III. 543/2. The Basque nation is certainly the first that settled in the Spanish peninsula.
