A person who wears a disguise or mask, especially one who participates in seasonal folk celebrations or Christmas mumming traditions.
From Middle English 'guiser' (one who wears a 'guise' or disguise), from Old French 'guise' meaning 'dress' or 'manner.' Related to modern 'disguise.'
Guisards were medieval party-goers—masked celebrants who wandered through villages during holidays performing plays and pranks, making them the ancestors of modern trick-or-treaters and masked revelers.
From 'guise' (disguise/masquerade). 'Sard' suffix defaulted to masculine in Scots/Northern English folk traditions. Guisers (Halloween guisers) were predominantly recorded as male youth, erasing girls' participation in costume celebrations.
Use 'guiser' (already gender-neutral plural) or 'trick-or-treater' in contemporary contexts.
["guiser","masquerader","trick-or-treater"]
Women and girls participated in Scottish guising traditions equally but were historically underrecorded in folk documentation.
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