Gig Meaning
/ɡɪɡ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounOriginally (music), a performing engagement by a musician or musical group; (by extension, film, television, theater) a job or role for a performer.
nounAny job, especially one that is freelance or temporary, or done on an on-demand basis.
Sentence Examples
Teaching ESL is usually a gig for losers and boozers.
We have a gig at the club tomorrow night.
They're doing a gig in Boston tonight.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The band had a ____ at the local club next Friday night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The band was excited about their first ____ at the local club and practiced for several weeks to prepare.
Word Origin & History
The etymology of the noun is unknown, but compare Old French gigue (“a fiddle”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Whether you want to have some occasional translation gigs or turn freelance translating into your fulltime occupation, you'll need to know some essential things […]"
— 2014 July 24, R. Z. Aklat, “Introduction”, in Become a Freelance Translator, [S.l.]: R. Z. Aklat, →ISBN:
"In recent decades, "gig" has become just a hip term for any temporary job or stint, with the implication you're not particularly invested in it. I think of the barista or bookstore clerk who responds to my questions with a look that says, "Hey, man, it's a gig. I don't really DO this?" That tone of insouciance has made "the gig economy" the predominant name for what's being touted as the industrial revolution of our times."
— 2016 January 11, Geoffrey Nunberg, “Fresh Air: Goodbye Jobs, Hello ‘Gigs’: How One Word Sums Up a New Economic Reality”, in NPR, archived from the original on 13 Feb 2022:
"The restore would get through between 13 and 20 gigs of data, and then the tape would fail."
— 2003, IT Professional's Guide to E-mail Administration, CNET Networks Inc., →ISBN, page 88:
"Peda[nt]. Thou diſputes like an Infant: goe vvhip thy Gigg. / Pag[e]. Lende me your Horne to make one, and I vvill vvhip about your Infamie vnũ cita a gigge of a Cuckolds horne."
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
"Play-things vvhich are above their [children's] Skill to make; as Tops, Gigs, Battledors, and the like, vvhich are to be uſed vvith labour, ſhould indeed be procur'd them: Theſe 'tis convenient they ſhould have, not for Variety, but Exerciſe."
— 1695, [John Locke], “§130”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education. […], 3rd edition, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC, page 241:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The band had a ____ at the local club next Friday night.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The band was excited about their first ____ at the local club and practiced for several weeks to prepare.