gypsy

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: Gyp=sy

CIDE DICTIONARY

gypsy, n. [OE. Gypcyan, F. égyptien Egyptian, gypsy, L. Aegyptius. See Egyptian.].

•  One of a vagabond race, whose tribes, coming originally from India, entered Europe in the 14th or 15th century, and are now scattered over Turkey, Russia, Hungary, Spain, England, etc., living by theft, fortune telling, horsejockeying, tinkering, etc. Cf. Bohemian, Romany.  [1913 Webster]

  "Like a right gypsy, hath, at fast and loose,
  Beguiled me to the very heart of loss."  [1913 Webster]
•  The language used by the gypsies.  [1913 Webster]
•  A dark-complexioned person.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  A cunning or crafty person.  Prior.  [1913 Webster]

gypsy, a. 

 Pertaining to, or suitable for, gypsies.  [1913 Webster]

Gypsy hat, a woman's or child's broad-brimmed hat, usually of straw or felt. -- Gypsy winch, a small winch, which may be operated by a crank, or by a ratchet and pawl through a lever working up and down.

gypsy, v. i. 

 To play the gypsy; to picnic in the woods.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

gypsy, n. (also Gipsy) (pl. -ies)
1 a member of a nomadic people of Europe and N. America, of Hindu origin with dark skin and hair, and speaking a language related to Hindi.
2 (gypsy) a person resembling or living like a Gypsy.

Idiom

gypsy moth a kind of tussock moth, Lymantria dispar, of which the larvae are very destructive to foliage.

Derivative

Gypsydom n. Gypsyfied adj. Gypsyhood n. Gypsyish adj.

Etymology

earlier gipcyan, gipsen f. EGYPTIAN, from the supposed origin of Gypsies when they appeared in England in the early 16th c.

ROGET THESAURUS

gypsy

Humorist

N humorist, wag, wit, reparteeist, epigrammatist, punster, bel esprit, life of the party, wit-snapper, wit-cracker, wit- worm, joker, jester, Joe Miller, drole de corps, gaillard, spark, bon diable, practical joker, buffoon, farceur, merry-andrew, mime, tumbler, acrobat, mountebank, charlatan, posturemaster, harlequin, punch, pulcinella, scaramouch, clown, wearer of the cap and bells, wearer of the motley, motley fool, pantaloon, gypsy, jack-pudding, jack in the green, jack a dandy, wiseacre, wise guy, smartass, fool, zany, madcap, pickle-herring, witling, caricaturist, grimacier, persifleur.

Traveler

N traveler, wayfarer, voyager, itinerant, passenger, commuter, tourist, excursionist, explorer, adventurer, mountaineer, hiker, backpacker, Alpine Club, peregrinator, wanderer, rover, straggler, rambler, bird of passage, gadabout, gadling, vagrant, scatterling, landloper, waifs and estrays, wastrel, foundling, loafer, tramp, tramper, vagabond, nomad, Bohemian, gypsy, Arab, Wandering Jew, Hadji, pilgrim, palmer, peripatetic, somnambulist, emigrant, fugitive, refugee, beach comber, booly, globegirdler, globetrotter, vagrant, hobo, night walker, sleep walker, noctambulist, runabout, straphanger, swagman, swagsman, trecker, trekker, zingano, zingaro, runner, courier, Mercury, Iris, Ariel, comet, pedestrian, walker, foot passenger, cyclist, wheelman, rider, horseman, equestrian, cavalier, jockey, roughrider, trainer, breaker, driver, coachman, whip, Jehu, charioteer, postilion, postboy, carter, wagoner, drayman, cabman, cabdriver, voiturier, vetturino, condottiere, engine driver, stoker, fireman, guard, chauffeur, conductor, engineer, gharry-wallah, gari-wala, hackman, syce, truckman, on the road.

Deceiver

N deceiver &c (deceive), dissembler, hypocrite, sophist, Pharisee, Jesuit, Mawworm, Pecksniff, Joseph Surface, Tartufe, Janus, serpent, snake in the grass, cockatrice, Judas, wolf in sheep's clothing, jilt, shuffler, stool pigeon, liar &c (lie), story-teller, perjurer, false witness, menteur a triple etage, Scapin, bunko steerer, carpetbagger, capper, faker, fraud, four flusher, horse coper, ringer, spieler, straw bidder, imposter, pretender, soi-disant, humbug, adventurer, Cagliostro, Fernam Mendez Pinto, ass in lion's skin, actor, quack, charlatan, mountebank, saltimbanco, saltimbanque, empiric, quacksalver, medicaster, Rosicrucian, gypsy, man of straw, conjuror, juggler, trickster, prestidigitator, jockey, crimp, decoy, decoy duck, rogue, knave, cheat, swindler, jobber, saint abroad and a devil at home.