Gadjo

In Romani culture, a gadjo (feminine: gadji) is a person who has no Romanipen. This usually corresponds to not being an ethnic Romani, but it can also be an ethnic Romani who does not live within Romani culture. It is often used by Romanies to address or denote outsider neighbors living within or very near their community.

Etymology

The exact origin of the word is not known. One theory considers that the word comes from the proto-Romani word for "peasant" and has the same root as the Romani word "gav" (a village).

See also

• Gadjo dilo ("The crazy gadjo") is a French-Romanian film about a Frenchman who travels to Romania after a Romani musician.
• Goy

References

• Lev Tcherenkov, Stephan Laederich "The Rroma"
• Raymond Buckland "Gypsy Witchcraft & Magic"

External links

• Excerpts from Roma by WR Rishi: ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD "GAJO" https://web.archive.org/web/20080514005741/http://www.romani.org/rishi/retygajo.html