Gigolette

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A young girl or woman who is considered to be flirtatious or coquettish in nature
2. someone who often engages in light-hearted romantic pursuits or casual relationships
3. an informal term for a youthful female who seeks attention and admiration from others

Etymology: Built on French "gigolo," this word takes its character from a dance. The French "gigolo" was tied to "gigue," a lively jig, and it originally described a man who danced in the dance halls of Paris. The French suffix "-ette" marks a feminine diminutive, so "gigolette" named a young woman of that same lively, dance-hall world. The English sense of a flirtatious girl follows from that setting. The associations of the dance hall, with its bright, playful social mingling, carried over into a picture of a young woman who was lively and coquettish. The masculine "gigolo" later drifted toward a paid companion, but the feminine form stayed closer to its original sense of a young woman in the dance-hall crowd.