Etymology Dictionary

JIB (1),  the foremost sail of a ship.  (Dan.)   'Jib, the foremost sail of a ship;' Ash's Dict., ed. 1775.   So called because readily shifted from side to side; the sb. being derived from the verb, not vice versâ.   See Job (2).   Der. jib-boom (Ash).

JIB (2),  to shift a sail from side to side.  (Dan.)   'Jib, to shift the boom-sail from one side of the mast to the other;' Ash's Dict., ed. 1775.   'To jib round the sail;' Cook, Third Voyage, b. ii. c. 3 (R.)   Also spelt jibe.   'Jibing, shifting the boom-sail from one side of the mast to the other (Falconer);' id.   Also spelt gybe.   'Gybing, the act of shifting the boom-sail,' &c.; id.—Dan. gibbe, 'to gybe, a naut. term;' Ferrall. + Du. gijpen (of sails), to turn suddenly; Halma (cited by Wedgwood).   Sewel gives:  'Gypen, ’t overslaan der zeylen [the overturning of a sail] a sail's being turned over by an eddy wind.'   [The forms gibe, gybe, with the long vowel, are probably due to this Du. form rather than to the Danish.] + Swed. dial. gippa, verb, used of a sudden movement or jerk; thus, if a man stands on the lower end of a slanting plank, and a sudden weight falls on the upper end and tips it up, he is gippad, i.e. jerked up; Rietz.   Cf. Swed. guppa, to move up and down.   β. A nasalised form from the same base GIP appears in M.H.G. gempeln, to spring; and corresponding to Swed. guppa we have M.H.G. gumpen, to spring, and E. jump.   See Jump.   γ. Conversely jib is a weakened form of jump, and is used of slight sudden movements.   See further below.

JIB (3),  to move restively, as a horse.  (F.,—Scand.)   'Jib, said of a draught-horse that goes backwards instead of forwards;' Halliwell.   A very early use of a compound from this verb occurs in M.E. regibben, to kick.   'Hit regibbeth anon, ase uet kelf and idel' = it kicks back again, like a fat and idle calf; Ancren Riwle, p. 138.—O.F. giber, 'se débattre des pieds et des mains, s’agiter, lutter,' i.e. to struggle with the hands and feet; Roquefort.   Whence O.F. regiber (Roquefort), mod. F. regimber, to kick; accounting for the M.E. regibben.   β. Of Scand. origin; cf. Swed. dial. gippa, to jerk; Swed. guppa, to move up and down.   See Jib (2) and Jump.