Etymology: Origin uncertain. Often assumed to be identical with Old French gigue a kind of stringed instrument, a rude fiddle, Italian giga , Spanish giga , Middle High German gîge , German geige ; but as to this there are difficulties: the Old French word had none of the senses of jig , it was also obsolete long before jig is known to have existed; moreover, modern French gigue the dance, and dance tune (exemplified 1680) is not a continuation of Old French gigue , but is said by Darmesteter to have been simply adopted < English jig . In this uncertainty as to the origin and history of the word, the order of senses here presented is provisional; those in sense 6 are in part directly from the stem of jig v.Apparently the only way in which jig could be connected with Old French gigue , would be its formation < jig v., the derivation of the latter from French giguer , ginguer ‘to leap, frolic, gambol’, and the formation of this from Old French gigue . But not one of these steps is certain: in particular the senses and chronology of jig v. offer difficulties.

Etymology: Origin unknown, but perhaps the same word as jig n.¹

Etymology: Closely related to jig n.¹, but not known so early. In some senses it approaches obsolete French giguer (15th cent.) to gambol, freak, sport, nasalized ginguer to leap, kick, wanton (which is apparently not related to Old French gigue ); but this resemblance may be merely accidental, or due to parallel onomatopoeic influence, the large number of words into which jig- enters indicating that it has been felt to be a natural expression of a jerking or alternating motion. See the words following, and compare fig v.³, frig v. Some of the senses evidently arose independently < jig n.¹, and the historical order of the whole is unascertained.