Etymograph

English

jig

Jig comes from Middle English gyge ‘fiddle’, and goes back to Old French gigue.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400gigue‘a fiddle’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gyge‘fiddle’
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596jig

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400gigue‘a fiddle’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gyge‘fiddle’
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596jig

Earliest quotation: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, Loues Labour’s Lost: “No, my complete master, but to jig off a…”

The story

Derivation from Middle English gyge (‘fiddle’), from Old French gigue (‘a fiddle’) has been proposed, but the connection and sense development are obscure.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. The sense “a type of dance” of modern French gigue is borrowed from English.

Every English word from Old French gigue

Today it means

noun A light, brisk musical movement; a gigue.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French gigue / jig

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