Gigolo
Pronunciation
Macmillan American English Dictionary, onlineCambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, onlineor Collins American English Dictionary, onlineMacmillan British English Dictionary, onlineor IPA: /ˈʒɪɡ.ə.ˌləʊ/Harrap's Shorter Dictionary, 8th Edition, page 389- Hyphenation: gig + o + lo
Origin
First attested in English in 1922.
Merriam Webster Online
From French gigolo ("young lover kept by an older woman")
Trésor de la langue française, gigolo
(first attested in that sense in 1901; attested since 1894 in the sense "elegant young man whose means of livelihood are dubious", and since 1850 in the sense "lover of a gigolette or pimp"),
Dictionnaire étymologique et historique du français (Larousse Références, ISBN 2-03-710228-3), page 339
, a back-formation from gigolette ("promiscuous dancing girl, girl available for hire as a dancing partner")
Collins English Dictionary, online
(attested since 1850), from giguer ("to dance"), from gigue ("fiddle").
Full definition of gigolo
Noun
gigolo
(plural gigolos)- A man who has a sexual relationship with a woman from whom he receives payment.
- A hired escort or dancing partner for a woman.
- 1929, Irving Caesar, "Just a Gigolo" lyrics:I'm just a gigolo
And everywhere I go
People know the part I'm playin'
Paid for every dance
Sellin' each romance
Ooh, what they're sayin'