jig

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

An assimilated form of earlier gig, from Middle English gigge, from Old French gige, gigue (“a fiddle, kind of dance”), of Germanic origin, from Old Low Frankish *gīge (“dance, fiddle”), from Proto-Germanic *gīganan (“to move, wish, desire”), from Proto-Indo-European *gheiǵh-, *gheigh- (“to yawn, gape, long for, desire”). Cognate with Middle Dutch ghighe (“fiddle”), German Geige (“fiddle, violin”), Danish gige (“fiddle”), Icelandic gigja (“fiddle”). More at gig, geg.

Pronunciation

• enPR: jĭg; IPA: /dʒɪɡ/
• Rhymes: -ɪɡ

Noun

jig (plural jigs)

1. (music) A light, brisk musical movement; a gigue.
2. (traditional Irish music and dance) A lively dance in 6/8 time; a tune suitable for such a dance. By extension, a lively traditional tune in 6/8 time.

   they danced a jig

3. (traditional English Morris dancing) A dance performed by one or sometimes two individual dancers, as opposed to a dance performed by a set or team.
4. (fishing) A type of lure consisting of a hook molded into a weight, usually with a bright or colorful body.
5. A device in manufacturing, woodworking, or other creative endeavors for controlling the location, path of movement, or both of either a workpiece or the tool that is operating upon it. Subsets of this general class include machining jigs, woodworking jigs, welders' jigs, jewelers' jigs, and many others.

   Cutting circles out of pinewood is best done with a compass-style jig.

Translations

light, brisk musical movement — see gigue

lively Irish dance

Irish: port (ga) m.

Scottish Gaelic: port-cruinn (gd) m.

Morris dancing: solo dance

type of fishing lure

Finnish: jigi (fi)

Russian: джига (ru) f.

mechanical device

Finnish: pidin (fi), penkki (fi), jigi (fi) French: patron (fr) m., modèle (fr) m.

German: Schablone (de) f. Spanish: plantilla de guía (es) f., guía (es) f., plantilla (es) f.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: gigue (1)

Derived terms

• the jig is up

Verb

jig (third-person singular simple present jigs, present participle jigging, simple past and past participle jigged)

1. To move briskly, especially as a dance.

   The guests were jigging around on the dancefloor

2. (fishing) To fish with a jig.

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

• French: trémousser, sautiller