jig

Meaning

Noun

1. A light, brisk musical movement; a gigue.
2. (Irish, traditional) A lively dance in 6/8 (double jig), 9/8 (slip jig) or 12/8 (single jig) time; a tune suitable for such a dance. By extension, a lively traditional tune in any of these time signatures. Unqualified, the term is usually taken to refer to a double (6/8) jig.
3. A dance performed by one or sometimes two individual dancers, as opposed to a dance performed by a set or team.
4. 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.
6. An apparatus or machine for jigging ore.
7. (obsolete) A light, humorous piece of writing, especially in rhyme; a farce in verse; a ballad.
8. (obsolete) A trick; a prank.

Verb

1. To move briskly, especially as a dance.
2. To move with a skip or rhythm; to move with vibrations or jerks.
3. To fish with a jig.
4. To sing to the tune of a jig.
5. To trick or cheat; to cajole; to delude.
6. To sort or separate, as ore in a jigger or sieve.
7. To cut or form, as a piece of metal, in a jigging machine.
8. To skip school or be truant (Australia, Canadian Maritimes)

Synonyms

dance

💃

gigue

hop

jigger

frisk

bounce

clamp

🗜️

jerk

prance

dancing

cavort

drilling jig

driver

fixture

black

gambol

caper

gripping device

guide

holder

holding device

bound

implement

instrument

jaw

cramping apparatus

bob

jockey

cramping arrangement

ramp

rebound

recoil

reel

romp

skip

spring

start

tool

trick

valse

waltz

washbox

work locating fixture

quick dance

clamping fixture

chucking appliance

chucking fixture

drill jig

gripping appliance

wash box

Translations

gigue

giga

giga

τσαλιμάκι

giga

ballare la giga

sautiller

turlutte

Montagegestell

χορός

τρέλλα

crivello oscillante

κόλπο

Pronounced as (IPA)

/d͡ʒɪɡ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: gyge

In summary

Unknown. Derivation from Middle English gyge (“fiddle”), from Old French gigue (“a fiddle”) has been proposed, but the connection and sense development are obscure. The sense “a type of dance” of modern French gigue is borrowed from English.