Gig

The word gig has several meanings. Several different words contain ‘gig’. Most of these words have obscure or unknown origins. Do they have anything in common? Mostly spinning around, being spinny or giddy, turning, bouncing, twirling, fiddling, music, and dancing.
 
Suggestion for the origins of the word gig include Old Norse geiga (turn sideways) or Danish gig (spinning top) or medieval English gigge (fiddle), from Geige, a Germanic word for a fiddle. In the late 14th century, gigletry meant lasciviousness or harlotry. The mid-15th century word ghyg meant a child’s spinning top; i.e., a whyrlegag or whirligig. The Online Etymological Dictionary suggests that the connecting sense among these words might be “a rapid or whirling motion.”
 
Gig may be related to the word jig (lively irregular dance) from the 1560s.
 
From the 1580s, gig referred to anything in constant motion. From around 1600, a gig was a fickle, flighty person. From 1713, a gig was a type of water beetle. In the 1790s, a gig was a light two-wheeled carriage, usually drawn by one horse; also, a small boat.
 
In the early 20th century, first seen in 1915, a gig referred to a job, originally in the slang of jazz musicians. The term ‘gig economy’ is from 2009.
 
What other words contain ‘gig’?  Here are a few…
 
Gigolo: From the early 14th century, a villainous man, the male equivalent of a giglot, possibly from French gigoter (to move the shanks, hop). By 1922, a gigolo was a professional male escort or dancing partner and/or a young man supported financially by an older woman in exchange for his attentions.
 
Giglot: A word of unknown origin, first seen in the mid-14th century: a lewd, wanton woman or a giddy, romping girl (a giglet).
 
Fizgig: A light, frivolous woman, from the 1520s.
 
Giggle: As a verb, from around 1500. As a noun, from the 1570s. The word giggle comes from the sound of giggling.
 
In 1847, gig referred to a combination of numbers in betting game.
 
Do we say that ‘the gig is up’ or that ‘the jig is up’? Who knows? It’s likely both.
 
What about giga- (1947) as in gigantic or giga meaning a billion in the metric system? There is no connection to the other ‘gig’ words above. Giga- comes from Greek gigas (giant).
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
​