gigolo

See also: gigoló, gigolò, gigolô, ĝigolo, and Appendix:Variations of "gigolo"

English

Etymology

First attested in English in 1922. From French gigolo (“young lover kept by an older woman”), first attested in that sense in 1904 (attested since 1850 in the sense “lover of a gigolette or pimp”, and since 1894 in the sense “elegant young man whose means of livelihood are dubious”), a back-formation from gigolette (“promiscuous dancing girl, girl available for hire as a dancing partner”), attested since 1850, from giguer (“to dance”), from gigue (“fiddle; type of dance; jig”). More at jig.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɪɡ.ə.loʊ/ or /ˈʒɪɡ.loʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdʒɪɡ.ə.ləʊ/ or IPA^(key): /ˈʒɪɡ.ə.ləʊ/
• Hyphenation: gig‧o‧lo

Noun

gigolo (plural gigolos)

1. A man who has a sexual relationship with a woman from whom he receives payment.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prostitute

2. A hired escort or dancing partner for a woman.
   • 1929, Irving Caesar (lyrics), Leonello Casucci (music), “Just a Gigolo”:

     I'm just a gigolo / And everywhere I go / People know the part I'm playin' / Paid for every dance / Sellin' each romance / Ooh, what they're sayin'

Translations

male having sexual relationships for money

• Arabic: دَاعِر‎ m (dāʿir), بَغِيّ‎ m (baḡiyy), عَاهِر‎ m (ʿāhir), زَانِيّ‎ m (zāniyy), فَاحِش‎ m (fāḥiš), عَاهِر‎ f (ʿāhir), فَاحِش‎ f (fāḥiš)
• Bulgarian: жиголо m (žigolo)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 面首 (zh) (miànshǒu), 妓男 (zh) (jìnán), 男娼 (nánchāng)

• Czech: gigolo (cs) m, prostitut (cs) m
• Dutch: manhoer, gigolo (nl)
• Esperanto: amoristo
• Finnish: rattopoika (fi), miesprostituoitu, gigolo (fi)
• French: prostitué (fr) m, gigolo (fr)
• Georgian: ჟიგოლო (žigolo), მეძავი კაცი (meʒavi ḳaci), ალფონსი (alponsi)
• German: Gigolo (de) m, Stricher (de) m
• Hungarian: selyemfiú (hu), dzsigoló (hu), hímringyó (hu) (vulgar, derogatory)
• Italian: gigolò m, mantenuto (it) m

• Japanese: ジゴロ (jigoro), 男娼 (だんしょう, danshō)
• Korean: 남창 (ko) (namchang)
• Persian: ژیگولو‎ (fa) (žigulu)
• Polish: żigolo (pl) m, utrzymanek (pl) m
• Portuguese: gigolô (pt) m, garoto de programa m
• Romanian: gigolo (ro) m
• Russian: жи́голо (ru) m (žígolo), проститу́т (ru) m (prostitút), ха́стлер (ru) m (xástler) (to other men, also), альфо́нс (ru) m (alʹfóns) (a lover who lives on woman's expense)
• Spanish: gigoló (es) m, puto (es) m
• Swedish: manshora (sv) c, gigolo (sv)
• Turkish: jigolo (tr), tokmakçı (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

hired escort or dancing partner

• Arabic: دَاعِر‎ m (dāʿir), بَغِيّ‎ m (baḡiyy), عَاهِر‎ m (ʿāhir), زَانِيّ‎ m (zāniyy), فَاحِش‎ m (fāḥiš)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 舞男 (wǔnán)

• Czech: gigolo (cs) m
• Dutch: escort (nl) m
• Finnish: seuralainen (fi)
• French: gigolo (fr) m
• Georgian: ჟიგოლო (žigolo)
• German: Gigolo (de) m
• Hungarian: dzsigoló (hu)
• Italian: accompagnatore (it) m, ballerino (it) m

• Japanese: (escort) エスコート (esukōto), (dancing) ダンスパートナー専門の男 (ダンスパートナーせんもんのおとこ, dansu pātonā senmon no otoko)
• Persian: ژیگولو‎ (fa) (žigulu)
• Polish: żigolo (pl) m, żigolak (pl) m, fordanser (pl) m
• Portuguese: acompanhante (pt) m
• Russian: жи́голо (ru) m (žígolo)
• Spanish: gigoló (es) m
• Swedish: gigolo (sv) c
• Turkish: jigolo (tr), tokmakçı (tr), tutma erkek
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

---

French

Etymology

From gigolette +‎ -lo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒi.ɡɔ.lo/

Noun

gigolo m (plural gigolos)

1. (informal, derogatory) gigolo

References

• “gigolo” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).