Gypsy

See also: gypsy

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

A clipping of Gyptian (in Early Modern English roughly /ˈd͡ʒɪp.sɪ.æn/), itself an apheretic form of Egyptian, from Middle English Egipcian (“Egyptian”) (rarely Gypcian), from Old French egyptien, from Latin aegyptianus, from aegyptius (“Egypt”), because when Roma first appeared in England in the sixteenth century, they were wrongly believed to have come from Egypt. The Albanian evgjit, Greek γύφτος (gýftos), Italian gitano, Spanish gitano and Turkish Kıpti have the same origin. Doublet of Egyptian and Copt.

The other major categories of words for the Roma are cognates of Rom (words related to the Romani people's autonyms) and cognates of tzigane (words derived from Greek); see those entries for more information.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, General American) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɪp.si/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪpsi

Noun

Gypsy (plural Gypsies)

  1. (sometimes offensive) A member of the Romani people, or one of the sub-groups (Roma, Sinti, Romanichal, etc).
  2. A member of other nomadic peoples, not only of the Romani people; a traveller. Alternative spelling of gypsy.

Usage notes

  • Gypsy (and its spelling variant Gipsy) is an exonym (a name given by outsiders, based on the mistaken belief that Romanis came from Egypt) and some Romani people find it offensive, as it has negative connotations,[1][2] such as that the people are dishonest or thieving (compare gipsy, gypsy, gyp), and it is associated with discrimination and persecution of Romani. Many dictionaries recommend avoiding the term, or give it a negative or warning label.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Gypsy is still more common overall than Romani,[9] and is a common term of self-indication among Romani in the United Kingdom.[10]

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Proper noun

Gypsy

  1. (rare, sometimes offensive) The language Romani.
  2. A female given name.
    • 1894, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Gypsy Breynton, page 130:
      "Why, good afternoon, Miss Gypsy," said Sir Simms; "I'm surprised to see you such a warm day — very much surprised. But you always were a remarkable young lady ..."

Usage notes

See the notes about the noun, above.

Translations

Adjective

Gypsy (not comparable)

  1. (sometimes offensive) Of or belonging to the Romani people or one of it sub-groups (Roma, Sinti, Romanichel, etc).

Usage notes

See the notes about the noun, above.

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ 1994, Jean-Pierre Liégeois, Roma, Gypsies, Travellers
  2. ^ 1999, Arthur Kean Spears, Race and ideology: language, symbolism, and popular culture
  3. ^ Tom Dalzell, editor (2007), The new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English, reprint edition, London [u.a.]: Routledge, →ISBN, page 943
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster's pocket guide to English usage, Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1998, →ISBN, page 178
  5. ^ Bryan A. Garner (2009), Garner's modern American usage, 3rd edition, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 405
  6. ^ [by] H.E. Wedeck with the assistance of Wade Baskin (1973), Dictionary of gypsy life and lore, New York: Philosophical Library, →ISBN
  7. ^ Bryan A. Garner (2011), A dictionary of modern legal usage, 3rd edition, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 400
  8. ^ Guido Bolaffi, editor (2002), Dictionary of race, ethnicity and culture, 1. publ. edition, London: Sage, →ISBN, page 291
  9. ^ Ngrams
  10. ^ House of Commons Women & Equalities Committee (5 April 2019), “Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎[1], UK Parliament, archived from the original on 12 October 2026

Further reading

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