rejigger

The word 'rejigger' is a relatively modern American English formation from the early 20th century. It is built upon the verb 'jigger,' itself a variant of 'jig,' which originally referred to a rapid, lively dance and evolved to mean manipulating or adjusting machinery, especially in a mining context. By adding the Latin-derived prefix 're-' (meaning 'again'), the word literally means "to jigger again." This construction follows a common pattern in English where a native or colloquial base word is combined with a classical prefix to create a new term meaning to rearrange, adjust, or reconfigure something, often in an improvised or non-standard manner.

Structure: re (again) + jigger (arrange/tinker) re: Latin origin, a prefix meaning "again" or "back." jigger: Likely an alteration of the earlier verb 'jig', meaning to move or arrange with a quick, jerky motion. Its functional role is the base verb meaning to arrange or tinker with.