Giga — Chambers's Encyclopaedia

Giga, or GIGUE, the name of a short piece of music, much in vogue in olden times; of a joyful and lively character, and in $\frac{6}{8}$ or $\frac{12}{8}$ time, sometimes in $\frac{3}{4}$ ; used formerly as a dance-tune, and often introduced as a movement of a larger composition.—Jig is a form of the same word: the Irish jig is a dance-tune in $\frac{6}{8}$ time.