A gigolo (/ˈdʒɪɡəloʊ, ˈʒɪɡ-/ JIG-ə-loh, ZHIG-) is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship.
[1] The term gigolo usually implies a man who adopts a lifestyle consisting of a number of such relationships serially rather than having other means of support.
[2][3] The gigolo is expected to provide companionship, to serve as a consistent escort with good manners and social skills, and often to serve as a dancing partner as required by the woman in exchange for the support.
Both gigolo and gigolette were first recorded in French in the middle part of the 19th century, referring to dance club denizens in Montmartre paid to dance with, and sometimes have sex with, unaccompanied male visitors.
In the latter part of the 19th century, particularly after the scandalous murder case known in Paris as the Pranzini Affair [it],[5] the term gigolo took on connotations of the exotic, foreign male whose company and affections could be purchased by well-to-do French women.