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Gite (pronounced jeet) comes from the verb giter meaning to lodge.
Defined in the dictionary as a home; shelter. A rural gite is defined as a country holiday cottage..
Gites are generally old farm workers cottages or converted barns and outbuildings close to the owners principal residence and strickly speaking to be called a gite the owner must live close by so as to be able to provide help, assistance and to greet their guests, today the term encompasses most forms of holiday accommodation including flats and apartments.

There are over 56,000 registered Gites in France, they are fully furnished and equipped for self catering and are very popular as affordable self catering holiday accommodation

gites de france lists six classes for gites.

Gîte Rural
Offers self-catering accommodation located in the countryside, by the sea, or in the mountains. The gite is completely self contained with one or more bedrooms, a lounge or dining room, a kitchen and bathroom facilities.
Chambres d'Hôtes
Bed and Breakfast (B&B) the French way. Stay as a guest in a private home with a full breakfast provided. Some hosts offer Table d'Hôtes which provide either full or half board. If Table d'Hôtes is not available there is usually a local restaurant available for evening meals.
Gîtes d'Enfants
Holidays for children. During the school holidays host families provide lodging for children of various ages with a wide variety of activities. Children's gites are regulated and inspected to ensure a safe and secure environment for each child.
Gîtes d'Etape
Stopover and holiday getaways off the beaten track for groups of walkers or cyclists. The English equivalent is most probably a youth hostel.
Chalets-Loisirs
A complex of wooden cottages set in the countryside providing various activities, such as, fishing, horse-riding, archery, cycling.
Camping
Where to pitch a tent or park a camper van. All the usual leisure facilities are provided, with the better sites including nurseries, games rooms, swimming pools, etc.

Gite owners are required to ensure that their gites are safe and comply with statutary rules, regulations and insurance requirements. Insurance can be a mine field especialy if you are using a french insurance company. Third party liability is different in France than in Great Britain, When a French family visit your gite and have an accident, both your insurer and the French family's insurance get together as all household insurance in France covers third Party, the problem arises when the visitor is not French. you will need to make sure that your policy is amended. Also make sure that your insurance covers you for neglect. I was enquiring of my agent if I was covered with my pool if there was an accident, he said yes then went on about something I couldn't understand. It turned out that I would not be covered in the case that I had a lose paving slab and the client tripped on it and fell in the pool when I should have known. At this piont I employed a lawyer to unravel the maze because as I pionted out, I need liability cover to cover me if I make an error and forget to put the sign out " Wet Floor ".
Another piont that Gite owners are not often aware of is that All ride on mowers need separete insurance cover, like a car, by Law.

1951 The first self catering gite was created in the lower Alps, at the instigation of Senator Emile Aubert.

1952 The Gite de France programme was granted official status in the "General Report on the Modernisation of Tourism.

1955 The Federation National des Gites de France was founded; a self catering Gite charter was drafted and the first guide book published,with 146 entries.

1999: The www.gites de france.fr website was inaugurated.

The unofficial History of Gites goes somthing like this.

When the french Goverment was having a little problem with the other members of the European Comunity over the Common Agricultural Policy they decided to help out their farmers by allowing them to rent out one or two of their disused cottages without having to pay tax on the first £5000 of income. A nice little Tax Free earner or a stilth subsidy which ever. They were basic non controled holiday lets,very popular with the French who dislike paying any more than they need to.
Then along came the Brit's who could see an opening for more than the solitary or double gites and the complex holiday gites were born. This brought a few problems for the French as they had nowhere in their system to put these, eventually they were placed in Chamber D'Hote but were not regulated like normal Chamber D'Hote. There is still no compulsory regulations for gites and it is suggested that this is because the fast number of Gites are still owned by farmers and they are resisting any attempt to change there nice little earner.

How True this is I'm not sure but it does seem like something only the French could do.