gig English · revision 13496

− It is perhaps a transferred use of Middle English gigge, ghyg, a spinning top (in gygmylle, 1463, and whyrlegyg, [[whirligig]], 1440),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) with reference to bouncing or whirling motion.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The Middle English word also meant a giddy girl (early 13th century) and may be of Scandinavian origin: compare Danish gig, top, and Old Norse geiga, to turn aside (see [[jig]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Hoad notes that all these uses may be connected.^(Hoad 1986)