Gypsy (English)

Where does "Gypsy" come from?

The English word 'Gypsy' is an apheretic form and clipping of 'Gyptian', which itself comes from the Middle English 'Egipcian' and ultimately traces back through Old French 'egyptien' and Latin 'aegyptianus'[1]. These forms derive from 'aegyptius' meaning 'Egypt'[1]. The term arose because when the Roma first appeared in England during the sixteenth century, they were mistakenly believed to have originated from Egypt[1].

Full etymology tree

• Gypsy (English), 'A member of the Romani people, or one of the sub-groups (Roma, Sinti, Romanichal, etc).'
  • clipping Gyptian (English)
    • derived Egyptian (English), 'Of, from, or pertaining to Egypt, the Egyptian people or the Egyptian language.'
      • inherited Egipcian (Middle English)
        • borrowed egyptien (Old French)
          • inherited aegyptianus (Latin)
            • derived aegyptius (Latin), 'Egyptian; of or pertaining to Egypt'
              • derived Αἰγύπτιος (Aigúptios) (Ancient Greek), 'Egyptian'

Cognates and doublets

• evgjit (Albanian)
• Copt (English)
• Egyptian (English)
• γύφτος (Greek)
• gitano (Italian)
• gitano (Spanish)
• Kıpti (Turkish)

Descendants and derived words

• gypsy (English)
• gypsy (English)
• gypsy (English)

Related words

• culture (English)

Sources

1. Gypsy (English) - Wiktionary
2. Egyptian (English) - Wiktionary
3. aegyptius (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris