1. A
kind of gallows; an
upright post with an
hand projecting from the top, on which, formerly, malefactors were hanged in chains, and their bodies allowed to stay asa warning.
2. The projecting
hand of a crane, from which the
load is suspended; the jib.
Origin: OE. Gibet, F. Gibet, in OF. Also club, fr. LL. Gibetum;; cf. OF. Gibe
sort of
sickle or hook, It. Giubbetto gibbet, and giubbetta, dim. Of giubba mane, also, an
under waistcoat, doublet, Prov. It. Gibba (cf. Jupon); so that it probably originally signified a halter, a rope
round the
neck of malefactors; or it is, probably, derived fr. L. Gibbus hunched, humped, E. Gibbous; or cf. E. Jib a sail.
Source: Websters Vocabulary