|  | 
    
 Gypsy - The Musical Wiki Information 
    | The term gypsy
 (or gipsy
)  has several overlapping meanings. [1] Initially the word was used to refer to the Romani people,  who first appeared in England at about the beginning of the 16th century. Although in certain contexts it is still used to describe the Romani, it also describes those in English speaking countries who live a lifestyle similar to that of the Romani, or as a translation of equivalent words in other languages. 
 
 | GYPSY - THE MUSICAL TICKETS | EVENT | DATE  | AVAILABILITY | 
|---|
 | Gypsy - The Musical Tickets 2/6 | Feb 06, 2026 Fri, 7:30 PM
 |  |  | Gypsy - The Musical Tickets 2/7 | Feb 07, 2026 Sat, 7:30 PM
 |  |  | Gypsy - The Musical Tickets 2/7 | Feb 07, 2026 Sat, 2:00 PM
 |  |  | Gypsy - The Musical Tickets 2/8 | Feb 08, 2026 Sun, 2:00 PM
 |  |  | Gypsy - The Musical Tickets 2/13 | Feb 13, 2026 Fri, 7:30 PM
 |  | 
 |  
    
 Etymology
The Oxford English Dictionary  (OED) states that a gypsy is a 
 "member of a wandering race (by themselves called Romany), of Hindu origin, which first appeared in England about the beginning of the 16th c. and was then believed to have come from Egypt".  
The OED records the first usage of the word in English as 1514, with several more in the same century, and that both Edmund Spenser  and William Shakespeare  used the word. [
]
 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 migration into the land of the Romani people (or Roma) in that continent. [2] 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 fitted the European image of dark-skinned Egyptians skilled in witchcraft.  During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was written in various ways: Egipcian
, Egypcian
,  'gipcian
,  'gypcian
. [3] As the time elapsed, the notion of Gypsy evolved including other stereotypes, like nomadism, exoticism. [4] John Matthews in The World Atlas of Divination
 refer to gypsies as "Wise Women." [5]
 
 
 English lawGypsy has several different and overlapping meanings under English Law. Under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 Gypsies are defined as "persons of nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin, but does not include members of an organised group of travelling showmen, or persons engaged in travelling circuses, travelling together as such.", [6] this definition includes such groups as New Age Travellers, as well as Irish Travellers and Romany. [7] [8]
 Gypsies of Romany origins have been a recognised ethnic group for the purposes of Race Relations Act 1976 since CRE V Dutton 1998
 and Irish Travellers in England and Wales since O'Leary v Allied Domecq 2000
 (having already gained recognition in Northern Ireland in 1997).
 [ [9]
]
 
 Other groups sometimes called gypsiesA number of groups are commonly included under gypsy
 even though they are not part of the Romani people proper. This is notably the case with the Dom people and the Lom people of the Middle East and Central Asia. 
These are known as 
Kowli
 (????
) in Iran and Iraq. The Arabic terms Ghajar
 (???
),Salab
 (???
) and  Nawar
 (???
) distinguish occupations: the   Ghajar
 or Salab
 are entertainers, while the Nawar
 are traders; Nawar
 is also used as a pejorative term to mean vulgar
, or low
 in North Levantine Arabic, and are used as insults (see also Garachi, Lyuli, Zott)
 "Travellers" is a wider term for groups of people with a nomadic lifestyle, traditionally including but not restricted to the Romani. The Irish Travellers and Scottish Travellers are often included under the term "gypsies". In Central and Western Europe, the Yeniche are known as gypsies
 (or Zigeuner
 and other local equivalents of the term) although they are not considered part of the Romani people.
 
 Similarly, the Indigenous Norwegian Travellers are unrelated to the Romani, not to be confused with the Romani Norwegian and Swedish Travellers.
 
 In India, the  Banjara are sometimes dubbed gypsies
.
Various ethnic groups in South-East Asia are known as "Sea Gypsies". Colloquially, gypsy
 names also any person perceived as fitting the Gypsy stereotypes (compare Bohemianism). [10]
 
 
 Gypsy populationsThis list is incomplete; you can help by [ expanding it]
. United Kingdom
Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.
 
 
 ReferencesOxford English  Dictionary 2nd Edition 1989. "Gipsy, gypsy, n."Hancock, Ian ''Romanies''Hancock, Ian ''We are the Romani people'', Univ. Hartfordshire Press, 2002Hancock, Ian ''The ‘Gypsy’ stereotype and the sexualization of Romani women''The World Atlas of Divination Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 (c.62) The UK Statute Law DatabaseRavi Low-Beer Challenging Gypsy planning policies occasional discussion paper number 1, Traveller Law Research Unit, Cardiff Law School, P O Box 427, Cardiff CF1 1XD, Retrieved 2008-10-09Thomas Acton. Human Rights as a Perspective on Entitlements: The Debate over ‘Gypsy Fairs’ in England, Essex Human Rights Review Vol. 1 No. 1. July 2004, pp. 18-28, ISSN 1756-1957. See footnote 5 page 19 (page 2 of the PDF document)Staff, Travelling People in the UK: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Traveller Law Research Unit, Cardiff University, (From March 1995 to December 2002). Retrieved 2008-10-09P E R S P E C T I V E S  The Struggle for the Control of Identity 
 
All Wikipedia content is licensed under the GNU Free Document License  or is otherwise used here in compliance with the Copyright Act
 |