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Jig
Jig, Elizabethan after-piece, given in the smaller public theatres only. (Shakespeare says of Polonius: ‘He's for a jig, or a tale of bawdry.’.) It consisted of rhymed dialogue, usually on the frailty of women, sung and danced to existing tunes by three or four characters, of whom the Clown was always one. The best known exponents of the jig were Kempe and Tarleton. It disappeared from the legitimate theatre at the Restoration, but remained in the repertory of strolling players and from the late 16th century onwards became popular in Germany, being taken there by the English Comedians who toured the Continent. Very few texts survive, and those mostly in German translations. The jig is thought to have been a formative element in the development of the German Singspiel (see BALLAD OPERA).
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Jig." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Jig." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Jig.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Jig." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Jig.html |
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jig
jig / jig/ • n. 1. a lively dance with leaping movements. ∎ a piece of music for such a dance, typically in compound time. 2. a device that holds a piece of work and guides the tools operating on it. 3. Fishing a type of artificial bait that is jerked up and down through the water. • v. (jigged , jig·ging ) 1. [intr.] dance a jig. ∎ move up and down with a quick jerky motion: we were jigging about in our seats. 2. [tr.] equip (a factory or workshop) with a jig or jigs. 3. [intr.] fish with a jig: a man jigged for squid. PHRASES: in jig time inf. extremely quickly; in a very short time.the jig is up inf. the scheme or deception is revealed or foiled. |
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Cite this article
"jig." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "jig." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-jig.html "jig." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-jig.html |
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jig
jig.
1. A dance once popular in Eng., Scot., and Ireland, in the last of which its popularity was of longest duration. For its general character and music see gigue. 2. In the late 16th and 17th cents., the term was applied to a lively song and dance item, of comic character, used to terminate theatrical perfs. 3. Title of last movement of an 18th-cent. orch. suite. See gigue. |
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Cite this article
MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "jig." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "jig." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-jig.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "jig." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-jig.html |
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jig
jig dance of English origin that is performed also in Ireland and Scotland. It is usually a lively dance, performed by one or more persons, with quick and irregular steps. When the jig was introduced to the United States, it was often danced in minstrel shows. In instrumental music the gigue, the successor to the jig, was used by Bach and Handel in their suites. |
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Cite this article
"jig." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "jig." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-jig.html "jig." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-jig.html |
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jig
jig lively springy dance, music for this; †lively ballad, light dramatic performance; (dial., sl.) joke, sport. XVI. of unkn. orig. The mod. (XIX) applications to various mechanical devices are from jig vb. in the sense ‘move rapidly or jerkiy up and down or to and fro’ (XVII), which most prob. derives from the sb.
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T. F. HOAD. "jig." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "jig." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-jig.html T. F. HOAD. "jig." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-jig.html |
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jig
jig, ‘an afterpiece in the form of a brief farce which was sung and accompanied by dancing’, popular in the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre, but few have survived.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "jig." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "jig." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-jig.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "jig." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-jig.html |
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jig
jig •big, brig, dig, fig, frig, gig, grig, jig, lig, pig, prig, rig, snig, sprig, swig, tig, trig, twig, Whig, wig
•Liebig • shindig • whirligig
•thingamajig • Pfennig • Gehrig
•thimblerig • Meurig • oilrig • Leipzig
•Schleswig • bigwig • periwig • Ludwig
•earwig • Danzig • Zagazig
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"jig." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "jig." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-jig.html "jig." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-jig.html |
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