rig
UK[rɪɡ]US[rɪɡ]
v
To arrange or control something in a dishonest or unfair way for a particular purpose.
n
A large structure used for obtaining or storing oil or gas.
Etymology
The verb 'rig', meaning to fit out a ship with sails and rigging, entered English in the late 15th century, likely from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse 'rigga' meaning 'to bind' or 'to wrap'. This nautical sense of preparing and equipping a vessel evolved logically into the modern, often negative, meaning of arranging or setting up a situation dishonestly, as if manipulating the apparatus of an event. The noun form for an oil structure is a 19th-century shortening of 'rigging', directly extending the concept of a ship's apparatus to a large, complex framework for drilling.
Analysis
The word 'rig' is a simplex word of likely Scandinavian origin. It is not productively formed from smaller, meaningful morphemes in modern English.
Examples
The company was accused of trying to rig the bidding process.
They worked for weeks on the oil rig in the North Sea.
Investigators found evidence that the election had been rigged.