gypsy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a laborer who moves from place to place as demanded by employment
    gipsy; itinerant.
    • itinerant traders
  2. noun a member of a people with dark skin and hair who speak Romany and who traditionally live by seasonal work and fortunetelling; they are believed to have originated in northern India but now are living on all continents (but mostly in Europe, North Africa, and North America)
    Gipsy; Romani; Rommany; Bohemian; Roma; Romany.
  3. noun the Indic language of the Gypsies
    Romany.

WordNet

Gyp"sy noun
Etymology
OE. Gypcyan, F. gyptien Egyptian, gypsy, L. Aegyptius. See Egyptian.
Wordforms
plural Gypsies
Definitions
  1. One of a vagabond race, whose tribes, coming originally from India, entered Europe in 14th or 15th centry, and are now scattered over Turkey, Russia, Hungary, Spain, England, etc., living by theft, fortune telling, horsejockeying, tinkering, etc. Cf. Bohemian, Romany.
    Like a right gypsy, hath, at fast and loose, Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. Shak.
  2. The language used by the gypsies. Shak.
  3. A dark-complexioned person. Shak.
  4. A cunning or crafty person Collog. Prior.
Gyp"sy adjective
Definitions
  1. Pertaining to, or suitable for, gypsies.
Gyp"sy intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To play the gypsy; to picnic in the woods. Mostly. Gyp"sy*ing, vb. n.

Webster 1913