gypsy
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gypsy¹
- /ˈd͡ʒɪp.si/
Rhymes with -ɪpsi
Where it comes from
See Gypsy. Compare bohemian, from Bohemia.
noun gypsies · gipsy · gipsey · gypsey · gypsie · gyptian
- An itinerant person or any person, not necessarily Romani; a tinker, a traveller or a carny. Like a right gypsy, hath, at fast and loose, Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.
- A move in contra dancing in which two dancers walk in a circle around each other while maintaining eye contact (but not touching as in a swing). (Compare whole gyp, half gyp, and gypsy meltdown, in which this step precedes a swing.)
- A member of a Broadway musical chorus line.
- A person with a dark complexion.
- A sly, roguish woman.
- A fortune teller.
- Alternative letter-case form of Gypsy (“a member of the Romani people”). It was at this town of Badajoz, the capital of Estremadura, that I first fell in with those singular people, the Zincali, Gitanos, or Spanish gypsies.
adjective gipsy · gipsey · gypsey · gypsie · gyptian
- Alternative form of Gypsy: of or belonging to the Rom, Dom or Lom people.
- Of or having the qualities of an itinerant person or group with qualities traditionally ascribed to Romani people; making a living from dishonest practices or theft etc.
verb gypsies · gypsying · gypsied · gipsy · gipsey
- To roam around the country like a gypsy. The rest of the day is spent out of doors "Gypsying", and families greatly enjoy themselves on these occasions.
- To perform the gypsy step in contra dancing. Look at the person you're gypsying with, and convey the message that you notice them as a person and that you're glad that they're there, […]
Gypsy²
- /ˈd͡ʒɪp.si/ US, UK
Rhymes with -ɪpsi
Where it comes from
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.
noun Gypsies · Gipsy
proper noun Gipsy
- The language Romani.
- A female given name. "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 ..."
adjective Gipsy
- Of or belonging to the Romani people or one of it sub-groups (Roma, Sinti, Romanichel, etc).
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: rommany, romani, romany, gipsy, roma, zingaro, scholar, traveller, travelling, rom, fortuneteller, pikey, fag, gitano, nomad, itinerant
Translations
Every language
noun any itinerant person, or any person suspected of making a living from dishonest practices or theft
| Español | gitano, gitana |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 집시 jipsi |
| 日本語 | ジプシー jipushī |
| 中文 | 吉普賽人 /吉普赛人 Jípǔsài rén |
| हिन्दी | यायावार yāyāvār, जिप्सी jipsī |
| Português | cigano, cigana |
| Français | gitan, tsigane, romanichel |
| Deutsch | Zigeuner, Zigeunerin |
| Italiano | zingaro, zingara |
| Ελληνικά | τσιγγάνος tsingános |
| Română | țigan, țigancă |
| Русский | цыга́н cygán, цыга́нка cygánka |
| Tiếng Việt | digan, dân gipsi, người Di Gan, dân gipxi |
| العربية | غَجَرِيّ ḡajariyy, غَجَرِيَّة ḡajariyya |
| עברית | צועני |
noun a member of the Romani people or another nomadic group
| Español | gitano |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 집시 jipsi |
| 日本語 | ジプシー jipushī |
| 中文 | 吉普賽人 /吉普赛人 jípǔsàirén |
| हिन्दी | जिप्सी jipsī |
| Português | cigano, cigana |
| Français | tsigane, gitan, gitane, manouche |
| Deutsch | Zigeuner, Zigeunerin |
| Italiano | zingaro, zingara |
| Ελληνικά | τσιγγάνος tsingános, τσιγγάνα tsingána |
| Română | țigan, țigancă, cioară |
| Русский | цыга́н cygán, цыга́нка cygánka |
| Tiếng Việt | người Di-gan, người Xư-gan |
| العربية | غَجَر ḡajar, غَجَرِيّ ḡajariyy, غَجَرِيَّة ḡajariyya |
| עברית | צוֹעֲנִי tso'aní, צוֹעֲנִית tso'anít |
name female given name
| 中文 | 吉普賽 /吉普赛 Jípǔsài |
|---|
Talk about this word "gypsy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gypsy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. gypsy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gypsy "gypsy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gypsy.Cite this
@misc{gypsy_2026,
title = {gypsy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gypsy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
