jury-rig
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdʒʊə.ɹi ɹɪɡ/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈdʒʊɹ.i ɹɪɡ/, /ˈdʒɛɹ.i ɹɪɡ/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Etymology 1[edit]
From jury (“for temporary use”, adjective) + rig.
The phrase 'jury-rigged' has been in use since at least 1788.[1] The adjectival use of 'jury', in the sense of makeshift or temporary, has been said to date from at least 1616, when according to the 1933 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary|Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, it appeared in John Smith's A Description of New England.[1] It appeared in Smith's more extensive The General History of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles published in 1624.[2]
Two theories about the origin of this usage of 'jury-rig' are:
- A corruption of jury mast; i.e., a mast for the day, a temporary mast, being a spare used when the mast has been carried away. Borrowed from French jour: 'a day'.[3]
- Borrowed from Latin adjutare: 'to aid'; via Old French ajurie: 'help' or 'relief'.[4]
Verb[edit]
jury-rig (third-person singular simple present jury-rigs, present participle jury-rigging, simple past and past participle jury-rigged)
- (nautical, transitive) To build an improvised rigging or assembly from whichever materials are available.
- (transitive) To create a makeshift, ad hoc solution from resources at hand.
Synonyms[edit]
- jerry-rig
- kludge out
- MacGyver
- nigger-rig (offensive)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
Noun[edit]
- (nautical) An improvised rigging.
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Verb[edit]
jury-rig (third-person singular simple present jury-rigs, present participle jury-rigging, simple past and past participle jury-rigged)
- (slang, transitive) To rig a jury; to engage in jury tampering, to improperly influence jurors, or the selection of jurors, such that they deliver a certain verdict.
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Oxford English Dictionary, Volume V, H-K, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933, page 637, corrected reprinting 1966
- ^ Smith, Captaine Iohn (1624) The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles, London: Michael Sparkes, (2006, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) digital republication), p.223. (Online edition) Note that in the orthography of Early Modern English, 'J' was often written as 'I', thus the actual quote from Smith (1624) reads, "...we had re-accommodated a Iury-mast to returne for Plimoth...", corrected for modern parlance, "...we had re-accommodated a Jury-mast to return for Plymouth..."
- ^ E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
- ^ Barnhart, Robert K., editor (1988), Barnhart dictionary of etymology, New York: H. W. Wilson Company, page 560
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