Meaning

noun long and light rowing boat; especially for racing

noun an implement with a shaft and barbed point used for catching fish

noun a cluster of hooks (without barbs) that is drawn through a school of fish to hook their bodies; used when fish are not biting

originThe noun is derived from Middle English gigg, gigge, gygge (“spinning object; a top”); further origin uncertain, possibly: * from Old Norse [Term?] (compare Danish gig (“a top”), dialectal Norwegian giga (“to shake about”)), from Proto-Germanic *gīganą (“to move, wish, desire”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeyǵʰ-, *gʰeygʰ- (“to yawn, gape, long for, desire”); or * ultimately onomatopoeic. Senses…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0