Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb dialectal, Northern England To walk carelessly or in a careless manner.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin unknown. Perhaps from Old English gǣgan ("to go, walk, pass by"), as in forgǣgan ("to transgress, trespass, prevaricate, pass by, neglect, omit"), ofergǣgan ("to transgress"), or from Old Norse geiga ("to deviate to the side, go the wrong way, rove at random"), both from Proto-Germanic *gaigijanan, *gīganan (“to move”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeyǵʰ-, *gʰeygʰ- (“to gape, protrude”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰēy(w)-, *ǵʰyāw- (“to yawn, gape”). Cognate with Old Frisian gēia ("to overstep, exceed"), Norwegian dialectal geige ("to sway back and forth"), Middle High German gīgen ("to play the violin"), Old English gǣnan ("to gape"). More at jig.

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