gypsy
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
See also Gypsy
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Alternative spellings
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English Gypcyan, Old French gyptien (“‘Egyptian, gypsy’”), from Latin Aegyptius. See Egyptian.
Compare bohemian, from Bohemia.
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈdʒɪp.si/
- Audio (US)help, file
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
gypsy (plural gypsies)
- (offensive, sometimes pejorative) An itinerant person or any person or group with qualities traditionally ascribed to Roma, including suspected of making a living from dishonest practices or theft etc.
- I will look on your treasures, gypsy. Is this understood? Borat
- Gypsy, a member of the Roma.
- (archaic) One of a vagabond race, not necessarily Roma, whose tribes, traditionally thought to have originally from India, entered Europe in 14th or 15th century, and are now scattered over Turkey, Russia, Hungary, Spain, England, etc. living by theft, fortune telling, horsejockeying, tinkering, etc. Cf. Bohemian, Romany, traveller.
- Shakespeare:
- Like a right gypsy, hath, at fast and loose, Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.
- Shakespeare:
[edit] Translations
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[edit] Adjective
gypsy (not comparable)
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Positive |
Superlative |
- (pejorative, offensive) Of or having the qualities of an itinerant person or group with qualities traditionally ascribed to Roma, including suspected of making a living from dishonest practices or theft etc.
- Gypsy, of or belonging to the Roma. This term is considered pejorative by many.
- (archaic) Of or belonging to the Gypsy race (Webster).
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] See also
Romani people on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Romani people
[edit] References
- gypsy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

