Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗To make a whirring or hissing sound, similar to that of an object speeding through the air. · To rush or move swiftly with such a sound. · To throw or spin rapidly. · To urinate.
A whirring or hissing sound (as above). · Someone who is remarkably skilled at something. · An act of urination. · Amphetamine.
Onomatopoeic. Compare huzz, hizz, hiss. In some noun senses perhaps derived from wizard. In the sense “remarkably skilled person”, it may also simply a misspelling of its shortened form wiz, or it may be a shortening of whiz kid, which may have a different origin, perhaps whiz(z) in the sense of “something very remarkable”, attested from 1908, or the interjection (as in whizz-bang or gee whiz). In fact, whiz(z) in the sense of “something very remarkable” may be derived from whizz-bang in the sense of “conspicuously talented”, and in military slang whizz-bang (or whizbang) can mean “an exceptionally skilful person” (attested in 1916 and later), which whiz in the same sense seems to be a shortening of (whence presumably also whiz kid).
This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
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