gigolo French · revision 15791

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=derivation|attested=1850, popular song}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʒi.ɡɔ.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gigolo''' ''m'' (plural gigolos)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) It was created about 1850 together with its feminine [[gigolette]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) The TLFi derives it from “gigolette” with the slang suffix [[-o]];^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and Larousse take it from [[gigue|t=leg]] (1655, common in the dialects, remade on [[gigot]]), the first sense having probably been “young man who frequents the dance halls on the outskirts of Paris”;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Larousse)^(FEW|16, 36a) Rey also mentions “gigue” in the sense “lively, merry woman”.^(DHLF 1992) [[en|giglet]], “giglot” “wanton girl; merry young woman” (before 1325) may have influenced both words.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A popular song of 1850, quoted by Larchey, has the lines ''Si tu veux être ma gigolette, Oui, je serai ton gigolo'': the gigolo is the lover of a ''gigolette'', a girl of easy virtue.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By 1894 a ''gigolo'' was an elegant young man of doubtful means and manners, and also from 1901 (Bruant) a young lover kept by an older woman, now the usual sense^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF); Pierre Véron already writes in 1888 of a widow's ''gigolots''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) Colette's ''Vous avez passé l'âge du gigolo'' (1920) shows it in literature.^(GLLF 1989) Slang made ''gigolpince'' (1925), an elegant pimp.^(DHLF 1992) English borrowed the word in the 20th century.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1850 – The lover of a ''gigolette'' (popular song).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1864 – ''Gigolette'' (Delvau).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1888 – ''Gigolots'' kept by a widow (Véron).^(BHVF)

+ * 1894 – An elegant young man of doubtful means.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1901 – A young man kept by an older woman (Bruant).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1925 – ''Gigolpince''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(familiar)'' A [[m|en|gigolo]], a young man kept by an older woman.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # An elegant young man whose manners and means of living are suspect.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(dated slang)'' The lover of a ''gigolette''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gigolette]]

+ * [[gigue]]

+ * [[en|gigolo]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}