Gypsy (term)

For other uses, see Gypsy (term) (disambiguation).

A gypsy (gipsy, gipsey) is a member of the Roma people or, more generally, one of a stateless people, whose communities are traditionally thought to have been originally from India, entered Europe in 14th or 15th century, and are now widely distributed over Europe, Russia, Turkey and the Americas. "Gypsy" is not used by the Roma and is considered pejorative by some, especially among the Roma themselves.

Origin

The word derives from the word for "Egyptian" in Latin, the same as the Spanish Gitano or the French Gitan. It emerged in Europe, in the 15th century, after their immigration into the land of the Romani people ( aka Roma ) in that continent. They received this name from the local people either because they spread in Europe from an area named Little Egypt, in Southern Balkans or because they resembled the European imagery of Egyptians as dark-skinned people skilled in witchcraft (in fact they arrived from Northern India). During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was written in various ways: Egipcian, Egypcian, 'gipcian, 'gypcian. As the time elapsed, the notion of Gypsy evolved including other stereotypes, like nomadism, exoticism.

Contemporary use

In time, the use of the term Gypsy was extended to other ethnic groups, perceived as fitting its stereotypes, like nomadic people of European (Irish Travellers, Yeniche, Quinquilleros) or South Asian origin (Lyuli, Banjara, Kalbeliya), also various ethnic groups in South-East Asia, known as Sea Gypsies. Colloquially, it names also any person perceived as fitting the Gypsy stereotypes.

Use By Jordan and Bradley

If you are called a Gypsy by Jordan and Bradley, Then it is most likely that you have a very distinct odour, have a tendency to steal and are addicted to some kind of Narcotic.