Gypsy

gypsy English Alternative forms en Gipsy dated Etymology A en Gyptian 1 (in Early Modern English roughly /ˈd͡ʒɪp.sɪ.æn/), itself an en Egyptian 1, from en enm Egipcian Egyptian (rarely enm gyptian Gypcian), from en fro egyptien, from en la aegyptianus, from la aegyptius Egypt, because when Roma first appeared in England in the sixteenth century, they were wrongly believed to have come from Egypt. The sq evgjit, el γύφτος, it gitano, es gitano and tr Kıpti have the same origin. en Egyptian 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 en /ˈd͡ʒɪp.si/ UK,GA en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Gypsy.wav Southern England en ɪpsi 2 Noun en sometimes offensive A member of the Romani people, or one of the sub-groups (Roma, Sinti, Romanichal, etc). A member of other nomadic peoples, not only of the Romani people; a traveller. en 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,1994, Jean-Pierre Liégeois, Roma, Gypsies, Travellers1999, Arthur Kean Spears, Race and ideology: language, symbolism, and popular culture 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.Tom Dalzell The new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English 2007 Routledge London [u.a.] 0415259371 943 reprintMerriam-Webster's pocket guide to English usage 1998 Merriam-Webster Springfield, MA 0877795142 178Bryan A. Garner Garner's modern American usage 2009 Oxford University Press New York 0195382757 405 3rd[by] H.E. Wedeck with the assistance of Wade Baskin Dictionary of gypsy life and lore Philosophical Library New York 0806529857 1973Bryan A. Garner A dictionary of modern legal usage 2011 Oxford University Press New York 0195384202 400 3rdGuido Bolaffi Dictionary of race, ethnicity and culture 2002 Sage London 0761969004 291 1. publ. Gypsy is still more common overall than Romani,Ngrams and is a common term of self-indication among Romani in the United Kingdom. Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities House of Commons Women & Equalities Committee 5 April 2019 https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmwomeq/360/full-report.html#heading-6 UK Parliament 13 May 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20261012072311/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmwomeq/360/full-report.html 12 October 2026 Synonyms self-designations Rom, Dom, Lom sometimes offensive zigeuner, tzigane Derived terms en gypsy English Gypsy Pakistani Gypsy Translations a member of the Romani people Rom a member of the Romani people or another nomadic group Afrikaans: af sigeuner Albanian: sq cigan m, sq cigane f Arabic: ar غَجَر collective, ar غَجَرِيّ m, ar غَجَرِيَّة f Armenian: hy գնչու, hy գնչուհի Aromanian: rup cinghine, rup yiftu m, rup curbet m Azerbaijani: az siqan, az qaraçı sometimes offensive Bashkir: ba сиған Basque: eu ijito Belarusian: be цыга́н m, be цыга́нка f Bulgarian: bg ци́ганин m, bg ци́ганка f, bg ци́ганче n Carpathian Rusyn: rue Циґан m, rue Циґанка f Catalan: ca gitano m Chechen: ce цигон Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 吉普賽人 jípǔsàirén Chuvash: cv чикан Czech: cs Cikán m, cs Cikánka f Danish: da sigøjner c Dutch: nl zigeuner m, nl zigeunerin f Esperanto: eo cigano, eo ciganino Estonian: et mustlane Faroese: fo sigoyni m, fo sigoynari m Finnish: fi mustalainen French: fr tsigane m f, fr gitan m, fr gitane f, fr manouche m f Georgian: ka ბოშა German: de Zigeuner m, de Zigeunerin f Greek: el τσιγγάνος m, el τσιγγάνα f Medieval Greek: gkm Ἀθίγγανος Athígganos Haitian Creole: ht jitàn Hebrew: he צוֹעֲנִי m tso'aní, he צוֹעֲנִית f tso'anít Hindi: hi जिप्सी m f Hungarian: hu cigány Icelandic: is Sígauni m Irish: ga giofóg f, ga duine den lucht siúil m Italian: it zingaro m, it zingara f Japanese: ja ジプシー jipushī Kazakh: kk сыған, kk цыган Korean: ko 집시 Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: kmr cengene, kmr qereçî Kyrgyz: ky сыган, ky цыган Latvian: lv čigāns m, lv čigāne f Lithuanian: lt čigonas m, lt čigonė f Macedonian: mk Ци́ган m, mk Ци́ганин m, mk Ци́ганка f, mk Ѓуптин m Malay: ms gipsi Māori: mi Hipihi Norwegian: Bokmål: nb sigøyner m, nb sigøynerske f Nynorsk: nn sigøynar m, nn sigøynerske f Pashto: ps جټ m jaṭ Persian: fa کولی kowli, fa جت jat Dari Classical Persian: fa-cls چنگانه čingāna Plautdietsch: pdt Ziejoon m Polish: pl Cygan m, pl Cyganka f Portuguese: pt cigano m, pt cigana f Romanian: ro țigan m, ro țigancă f, ro cioară Russian: ru цыга́н m, ru цыга́нка f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: sh Ци̏ганин m, sh Ци̏га̄н m, sh Ци̏га̄нка f Latin: sh Cȉganin m, sh Cȉgān m, sh Cȉgānka f Sicilian: scn caminanti m, scn gitanu m, scn zannu m, scn zìngaru m Slovak: sk Cigán m, sk Cigánka f Slovene: sl Cigan m, sl Ciganka f Spanish: es gitano m Swedish: sv zigenare c Tagalog: tl hitano Tajik: tg лӯлӣ, tg ҷӯгӣ Tatar: tt чегән Thai: (th ชาว~ -) th ยิปซี Turkish: tr Çingene, tr Kıpti Turkmen: tk loly Udmurt: udm чиган Ukrainian: uk ци́ган m, uk ци́ганка f Urdu: ur جِپْسی m f jipsī Uyghur: ug سىگان Uzbek: uz loʻli Vietnamese: vi Di-gan người Di-gan, vi Xư-gan người Xư-gan Volapük: vo zigan Votic: vot mustõlain Welsh: cy sipsi m Yiddish: yi ציגײַנער m, yi ציגײַנערין f Proper noun en rare sometimes offensive The language Romani. en female. en 1894 Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Gypsy Breynton 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 the language of the Romani people Romani female given name Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 吉普賽 Jípǔsài Polish: pl Gypsy f Adjective - en 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 of or belonging to the Roma people Romani See also en traveller, en traveler References Further reading Romani people en terms derived from toponyms