gipsy

«gipsy» in Mova's school dictionary: An old word for a member of the Romani people, who came… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a gipsy, gipsies); also spelt gypsy, gypsies; adjective (gipsy)

meaning for a pupil

1) (old, can be offensive) An old word for a member of the Romani people, who came to Europe from India long ago and many of whom lived and travelled in caravans. tree →

2) In The Wind in the Willows, Toad sells the horse he has taken to a gipsy for six shillings and sixpence and a hot breakfast; Toad's caravan is a «gipsy caravan». tree →

3) Used in some names, like the gipsy moth. tree →

sense in the lessons

Many Romani and Traveller people find the word «gypsy» rude, especially when used as an insult, so today it is better to say Roma, Romani people or Travellers. Some families do still call themselves Gypsies with pride. In old books like The Wind in the Willows the word is used as it was in Edwardian times, sometimes with unfair ideas; in lessons we name those ideas as wrong today. Romani people have their own language, Romani, and a long history in Europe, including persecution.

examples

• Toad sold the horse to a gipsy who was sitting by the road. tree →
• Toad's painted caravan was called a gipsy caravan. tree →
• Romani people came to Europe from India hundreds of years ago. tree →
• Today we say Roma or Travellers rather than gipsies. tree →
• The gipsy made a stew in a pot over the fire. tree →
• The gipsy moth has hairy caterpillars. tree →
• Then up there came a gipsy, blind of one eye. tree →

note

Two spellings: gipsy (old British) and gypsy. Plural gipsies/gypsies. Say Roma, Romani people or Travellers in your own writing. The word comes from «Egyptian», an old mistaken belief about where Romani people came from.

In the corpora

• The book calls the man a «gipsy» and says gipsies were «very fond of horse-dealing».

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «gipsy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.