Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “jiggle” come from?

Jiggle comes from English jig, which derives from English gig, tracing back through Latin gignere and genere to Latin genus, then to Proto-Italic genos and Proto-Indo-European ǵenh₁-, meaning to produce or beget.

jiggle (English): a weak, shaking movement; To shake something...

Definitions

  1. a weak, shaking movement; To shake something...

Ancestry of “jiggle”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-leA frequentative suffix of verbs, indicating...
2Middle English-el—
3Old French-elSuffix that usually denotes a masculine noun
4Latin-ellusAlternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine...
5Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
6Proto-Italic-olos—
7Proto-Italic-elos—
8Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
9Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “jiggle”

  • jiggly
  • jiggler
  • jigglesome
  • rejiggle
  • jiggliness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →