Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Jig |
JigNoun1. Music in three-four time for dancing a jig. 2. Any of various old rustic dances involving kicking and leaping. Verb1. Dance a jig. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "jig" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1594. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Chemical Industry | Device for holding a workpiece and guiding the tool operating upon it. Source: European Union. (references) |
Dream Interpretation | To dance a jig, denotes cheerful occupations and light pleasures. To see negroes dancing a jig, foolish worries will offset pleasure. To see your sweetheart dancing a jig, your companion will be possessed with a merry and hopeful disposition. To see ballet girls dancing a jig, you will engage in undignified amusements and follow low desires. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Industry | A dyeing machine in which fabric in open width is transferred repeatedly from one roller to another and passes each time through a dyebath of relatively small volume. Jigs are also freqently used for scouring, bleaching and finishing. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A device for holding an assembly in place during gluing or machining operations. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Literature | Jig from gigue. A short piece of music much in vogue in olden times, of a very lively character, either six-eight or twelve-eight time, and used for dance-tunes. It consists of two parts, each of eight bars. Also a comic song. "You jig, you amble, and you lisp." - Shakespeare: Hamlet, iii. l. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Mechanical Engineering | A work-holding device which is provided with a tool guide and is therefore not secured to the table. Source: European Union. (references) |
| Any holding device for workpieces, i. e. device for positioning the workpiece in relation to the tool. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Mining | A. A device that separates coal or ore from foreign matter, by means of their difference in specific gravity, in a pulsating water medium. Also spelled gig. See also:Baum jig; Bendelari jig; conset jig; Denver jig; Harz jig; hutch; jigger; jig washer; Pan-American jig; stripping a jig.b. A link or coupling connecting mine wagons. (references) |
Slang in 1811 | JIG. A trick. A pleasant jig; a witty arch trick. Also a lock or door. The feather-bed jig; copulation. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The jig (sometimes seen in its French language or Italian language forms gigue or giga) is a folk dance type as well as the accompanying dance tune type, popular in Ireland and Scotland, and particularly associated with the former. It is a popular tune-type within the Irish dance music tradition, second only to the reel. It is transcribed in a time which is a multiple of three, 12/8 time for a 'single jig' or 'slide', 6/8 time for a 'double jig', and 9/8 time for a 'slip jig'.
The most common structure is two 8-bar parts, each of which is repeated (AABB). There are a number of tunes with three or more parts, and some in which the length of one or more parts varies from 8 bars. As with most other types of dance tunes in Irish music, at a session or a dance it is common for two or more jigs to be strung together, flowing on without interruption.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Jig."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Amusement | Dance; hop, reel, rigadoon, saraband, hornpipe, bolero, ballroom dance; minuet, waltz, polka, fox trot, tango, samba, rhumba, twist, stroll, hustle, cha-cha; fandango, cancan; bayadere; breakdown, cake-walk, cornwallis, break dancing; nautch-girl; shindig; skirtdance, stag dance, Virginia reel, square dance; galop, galopade; jig, Irish jig, fling, strathspey; allemande; gavot, gavotte, tarantella; mazurka, morisco, morris dance; quadrille; country dance, folk dance; cotillon, Sir Roger de Coverley; ballet; (drama); ball; bal, bal masque, bal costume; masquerade; Terpsichore. |
Failure | Phrase: the bubble has burst, "the jig is up", "the game is up"; all is lost; the devil to pay; parturiunt montes; (disappointment); dies infaustus; tout est perdu hors l'honneur. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Jig |
| English words defined with "jig": Drill jig ♦ Jeg, Jigged, Jigging, Jiggish. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "jig": Bendelari jig ♦ coarse jig, conset jig ♦ Denver jig, diaphragm jig, drilling jig ♦ finishing jig ♦ GRINDER SET-UP OPERATOR, JIG ♦ hand jig, hodge jig, Hooper jig, Humboldt jig ♦ Jeffrey diaphragm jig, jig bed, JIG BUILDER, jig bushing, JIG FITTER, jig grinder ♦ McNally-Norton jig, Montgomery jig ♦ Pan-American jig, pneumatic jig, precision jig grinder ♦ Reading jig, Richards' pulsator jig ♦ stripping a jig ♦ Vissac jig ♦ Wilmot jig, Woodbury jig. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "jig": Jink. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Back in my day, they wasn't called Chicanos or Anglo-Americans or Afro-Americans, we was all Americans so if a guy was a jig or a spick, it was his own business (All in the Family; writing credit: Johnny Speight; Norman Lear) In my day we didn't have no Anglo Americans or African Americans, we was all Americans so if a guy was a jig or a spick, it was his own business (All in the Family; writing credit: Johnny Speight; Norman Lear) | |
Lyrics | Wishin they was dancin' a jig (Gettin' Jiggy Wit It; performing artist: Will Smith) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Irish Jig (1898) Irish Jig (1898) | |
Song Titles | Mooncoin Jig, The (performing artist: Steeleye Span) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Consumer Goods |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | Mackerel jigs and jig molds. Credit: National Marine Fisheries Historical Image Collection. | ![]() | Jig. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Conversion. Jukebox plant. Production of the drill jig part, pictured here, is included in the conversion of a jukebox manufacturing company to war production. Control instruments based on the jukebox selection device will be manufactured for America's ar. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | Subcontracting. Bogie-wheel assembly. A new jig is machined for use in the milling of a rubber plate in a bogie-wheel assembly. The work is being done in the machine shop of an Eastern subcontractor. Painesville Machine Company. Credit: Library of Congress. |
![]() | Gyro Mechanisms, Halesite, Huntington, Long Island. Jig borer. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| "Jig" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 89.91% of the time. "Jig" is used about 109 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 89.91% | 98 | 33,072 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 4.59% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 3.67% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.92% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Noun (common) | 0.92% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 109 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "jig": bending jig ♦ Drill jig ♦ Jig drilling ♦ Jig filing ♦ jig saw ♦ squid jig ♦ the jig is up. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "jig": jig-a-jigged, jig-saw, jig-saw puzzle, jig-saws. | |
Ending with "jig": fig-jig, get-up-and-jig, re-jig. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
jig zone | 1,057 | incra jig | 27 |
jig | 254 | jig head | 25 |
jig saw puzzle | 161 | leigh jig | 25 |
wood working jig | 123 | jig pig | 24 |
dovetail jig | 98 | bass jig | 24 |
jig saw | 98 | jig mold | 23 |
jig fishing | 82 | jig and fixture | 22 |
jig zone.com | 78 | walleye jig | 22 |
free jig saw puzzle | 42 | leigh dovetail jig | 22 |
crappie jig | 42 | tenoning jig | 21 |
table saw jig | 42 | frame jig | 21 |
big jig pig | 37 | jig puzzle | 20 |
box joint jig | 34 | dowel jig | 20 |
motorcycle frame jig | 34 | doweling jig | 20 |
irish jig | 32 | tube jig | 19 |
bow jig making | 32 | bucktail jig | 18 |
kreg jig | 32 | jig grinding | 17 |
router jig | 30 | stanley jig | 17 |
marabou jig | 29 | com jig zone | 16 |
pocket hole jig | 27 | wig jig | 16 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "jig"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | zhigë, vegël i vogël, valle e shpejtë, shabllon (cartoon, Mold, mould, sample, sampler, stencil, template, templet), kërcej zhigë, hidhem (bounce, bound, caper, dash, Frisk, hop, jounce, jump, launch, leap, lunge, peg, pounce, skip, spring, vault, Wade), grep flutur. (various references) | |
Arabic | موسيقى رقص الجيغ, تهزهز (jiggle, wiggle), صاد بالجيغة, الخضخاضة أداة, الجيغ رقصة مرحة. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | номер (event, feature, fetch, hoax, item, number, performance, registration number, size, waggery), друсам (joggle, jolt, jounce, jumble, jump, shake), подскачам (dap, gambol, jump, jump up, leap up, prance, skip, spring, tittup), приспособление за захващане, промивам руда, промивна машина, ловя риба с въдичка, жига, матрица (coin, die, former, mat, matrix, mould), движа се бързо с резки движения, напречна греда (arm, binder, bolster, crossbar, crossbeam, joist, rail, sill, stretcher, summer-tree, tie beam, transom), стяга (brace, clamp, clip, shackle, snap), шега (chaff, fun, game, hoax, jape, jest, joke, lark, pleasantry, prank, quiz, raillery, rib, sport, tease, trick, waggery), танцувам жига, трик (double, flam, skin game, sleight, snare, trepan, trick), риболовна кука, работя с матрица, сортирам (assort, class, grade, range, screen, separate, size, sort), свиря жига, утаечна машина, направляващ шаблон. (various references) | |
Chinese | 夹具. (various references) | |
Czech | irský tanec. (various references) | |
Danish | stiksav (keyhole hack-saw, sabre jig saw), skabelon (model), pirk til blæksprutter (pirn, ripper, squid jig), montagebuk (erection jig), model (model), form (form, shape), drejeindretning (rotating jig), drejeapparat (rotating jig). (various references) | |
Dutch | steekzaag (sabre jig saw), manipulator (erection jig, manipulator), inktvisdreg (pirn, ripper, squid jig), draaikaliber (rotative jig), draaiinrichting (rotating jig), buigvorm (bender, bending jig, bending mould, form, former, setter). (various references) | |
Farsi | نوعی رقص تند, جست وخیزکردن (Cavort, Lope, Skip, Tumble), جست وخیزسریع , اهنگ رقص تند, استهزاء کردن (Deride, Guy, Jest, Scorn), شیرین کاری (Gag, Stunt), بااهنگ تندرقص کردن . (various references) | |
Finnish | sähkökäyttöinen pistosaha (sabre jig saw), palapeli (jig-saw puzzle), mustekalapilkki (pirn, ripper, squid hook, squid jig), muotti (die, matrix, mould), kuviosaha (sabre jig saw), kääntölaite (manipulator, positioner, rotating jig, turner, turning equipment, turning machine). (various references) | |
French | secouer légèrement (jiggle), pêcher la leurre, gigue (fortuitous distortion jitter, fortuitous jitter, jitter, phase jitter). (various references) | |
German | Montagegestell (dolly). (various references) | |
Greek | γοργόσ χορόσ, χορεύω (dance, Valse, waltz), χοροπηδώ (caper, cavort, dance, Frisk, gambol, hop, leap, romp, skip), εργαλείο (contraption, implement, instrument, tool), αναπηδώ (bob, bounce, bound, jerk, leap, prance, ramp, rebound, recoil, spring, start). (various references) | |
Hebrew | לכרכר (beat about the bush, dance, gyrate, jump, leap, spin, twirl), ל ע ע (rock, shake, wag, wriggle). (various references) | |
Hungarian | rázás (jog, jolt, jumping, shake, shaking, stroke, thrash), dzsigg. (various references) | |
Italian | giga; ballare la giga, giga (gigue). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 治具 , ジカルボン酸 (dicarboxylic acid, dicyanogen, diphenyl, diphtheria, distemper, distoma, dysprosium, dystrophy, feminine form of gigolo, gigolette, gigolo, gigue, Givenchy, Gypsy, gypsy look, Holy War, Japanese Industrial Standard, Jekyll and Hyde, jib, jigsaw puzzle, JIS, JIS mark, jitter, jitterbug, syphilis, zig-zag, zigzag demonstration, ZIP code, Zipangu, Zipper, Zippo). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ジッグ (gigue), じぐ. (various references) | |
Korean | 지그. (various references) | |
Manx | skibbyltagh (acrobat, jigging, nimble person), jiggyr (jigger), jeerag, daunsey purt. (various references) | |
Norwegian | pilk, gigg. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | igjay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | jiga, saltitar (hop, jump, trip), rapaziada, padrão (device, measure, model, pattern, sampler, standard, stencil, template, test, type), mover-se rapidamente (twinkle), mover com rapidez, modelo (design, dummy, example, exemplar, form, gage, gauge, guest-card, lay figure, light, mirror, mockup, model, mold, mould, norm, sampler, specimen, style, template, type), estroinice, dançar a jiga, dança antiga muito viva, calibre de contraste. (various references) | |
Romanian | palanc, gigã, gabarit (dimensions, gauge, size), executa o gigã, dispozitiv de vizare, caprã de montaj, calibru (bore, caliber, calibre, compass, diameter, gauge, pass, pattern, size, sort), şablon (cliché, commonplace, form, humdrum, model, mule, pass, pattern, sample, stencil). (various references) | |
Russian | танцевать джигу, кондуктор (checktaker, conductor, guard, train conductor), матрица (die, matrice, matrix, mould), закреплять (clamp, clip, consolidate, fix, make fast, secure with), зажимать (clip, cramp, jam, pinch), балка (balk, baulk, beam, girder, ledger, raft, truss), проделка (escapade, trick, wantonness), приспособление (accommodation, adaptation, adjustment, aids and appliances, apliance, appliance, attachment, conformation, contraption, device, doohickey, gadget, gear, readjustment, rig, tackle), приманка (allurement, bait, decoy, decoy duck, draw, enticement, lure), патрон (cam, cartridge, collet, holder, lamp holder, lamp socket, patron, round), джига. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | uređaj za bušenje, drmati (shake, waggle), džig, cupkati (hop, scuttle), crnac (black, blackamoor, negro). (various references) | |
Spanish | giga (giga). (various references) | |
Swedish | jigg (jigger). (various references) | |
Thai | เต้นรำในจังหวะเร็ว, การเต้นรำ"้วยจังหวะเร็ว, ร่วมเพศ (george, knock-off, roger). (various references) | |
Turkish | sevinçten oynamak, sevinçten oynama, oynamak (act, budge, dance, enact, Frisk, hop, interpret, juggle, mess smth. about, monkey, move, perform, place one's bet, play, play around, play at, play on, play upon, play with, playact, portray, represent, shake a leg, toy, work), maden eleği (griddle), klişe yapmak (dab, make cliché, plate), kalibre (bore, caliber, calibre, Gage, gauge), hoplamak (caper, cavort, gambol, hop, jump, leap, prance), elekten geçirmek, delme aleti, dans partisi, dans etmek (dance, foot it, hoof, hoof it, hop), cig dansı, canlı dans, şablon çıkarmak. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | рухатися поштовхами, танцювати джигу, шаблон (sample, sampler, template), затискний пристрій, джига. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | hết đường. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "jig": jigaboo, jigaboos, jigged, jigger, jiggered, jiggering, jiggers, jigging, jiggle, jiggled, jiggles, jigglier, jiggliest, jiggling, jiggly, jigs, jigsaw, jigsawed, jigsawing, jigsawn, jigsaws. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "jig": thingamajig, thingumajig. (additional references) | |
Words containing "jig": rejigger, rejiggered, rejiggering, rejiggers, thingamajigs, thingumajigs. (additional references) | |
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"Jig" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: dj-ing, Higg, ig, ij, Ija, Ijo, jaga, jagd, jago, jagt, jaif, jaig, jamg, jarg, je, jeeg, jego, jegy, jeig, Jeng, jerg, jev, jg, jhg, ji, jic, jid, jie, jif, jiga, jige, jigg, Jigga, jigi, Jigoku, jigy, jih, Jii, Jiji, Jik, jil, jing, jingh, jio, jiq, jir, jirg, jis, jit, jiu, jiv, Jix, jiy, jiz, Jli, jmi, jogg, jogi, jogl, joigt, joir, joiv, jugd, Jugi, jugo, jugy, juige, jy, jyg, jym, mig, migg, Mji, nigg, oig. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "jig" (pronounced ji"g) |
| 2 | -i" g | big, Brig, dig, fig, gig, Mig, pig, prig, renege, rig, swig, trig, twig, Vig, whig, wig, zig. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words containing the letters "g-i-j" | |
+1 letter: jigs. | |
+2 letters: jingo. | |
+3 letters: gaijin, jading, japing, jawing, jeeing, jewing, jibing, jigged, jigger, jiggle, jiggly, jigsaw, jingal, jingko, jingle, jingly, jiving, joking, jowing, joying, juking. | |
+4 letters: jabbing, jacking, jaggier, jagging, jailing, jambing, jamming, jarring, jauking, jauping, jazzing, jeeping, jeering, jelling, jerking, jessing, jesting, jetting, jibbing, jigaboo, jiggers, jigging, jiggled, jiggles, jigsawn, jigsaws, jilting, jingall, jingals, jingled, jingler, jingles, jingoes, jinking, jinxing, jobbing, jogging, joining, jolting, joshing, jotting, jouking, judging, jugging, juicing, jumping, junking, jurying, justing, jutting. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.