Zigeunernoun & adjective
Factsheet
What does the word Zigeuner mean?
There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word Zigeuner. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
Zigeuner is considered offensive.
How common is the word Zigeuner?
| 1800 | 0.016 |
| 1810 | 0.016 |
| 1820 | 0.016 |
| 1830 | 0.017 |
| 1840 | 0.016 |
| 1850 | 0.017 |
| 1860 | 0.019 |
| 1870 | 0.019 |
| 1880 | 0.019 |
| 1890 | 0.02 |
| 1900 | 0.021 |
| 1910 | 0.021 |
| 1920 | 0.021 |
| 1930 | 0.02 |
| 1940 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 0.021 |
| 1960 | 0.023 |
| 1970 | 0.024 |
| 1980 | 0.028 |
| 1990 | 0.03 |
| 2000 | 0.032 |
| 2010 | 0.034 |
How is the word Zigeuner pronounced?
British English
U.S. English
Where does the word Zigeuner come from?
Earliest known use
1800s
The earliest known use of the word Zigeuner is in the 1800s.
OED's earliest evidence for Zigeuner is from 1802, in Universal Magazine Knowledge & Pleasure.
Zigeuner is a borrowing from German.
Etymons: German Zigeuner.
Nearby entries
- zidovudine, n.1987–
- Ziegfeld, n.1913–
- Ziegler, n.1957–
- Ziegler-Natta, n.1965–
- Ziehl, n.1892–
- Ziehl-Neelsen, n.1892–
- ziff, n.1917–
- ZIFT, n.1988–
- zig, n.1978–
- zig, v.1969–
- Zigeuner, n. & adj.1802–
- Zigeunerin, n.1845–83
- ziggety, int., adj., & adv.1924–
- ziggurat, n.1873–
- zigzag, n., adj., & adv.1712–
- zigzag, v.1777–
- zigzag connection, n.1922–
- zigzagged, adj.1774–
- zigzaggery, n.1761–
- zigzaggy, adj.a1845–
- zigzag machine, n.1952–
Etymology
Summary
Notes
- 1625
These Carendies haue no Proper and setled dwellings, but wander in the Countrie hither and thither, almost as our Cingari, and Zigeuneri [German wie pey uns die Zigeiner, Latin ut nostri Cingari sive Zigeuneri].
S. Purchas, Pilgrimes vol. IV. vii. iv. 1348
Meaning & use
- noun
- 1802–Esp. in German-speaking countries or in Hungary: a member of the Romani people, a Gypsy. Now rare and often considered offensive.
- 1802
The numbers of the Zigeuners, or Gypsies in Hungary, are about 17,000.
Universal Magazine Knowledge & Pleasure December 399/2 - 1856
In winter-time, when the pasturage disappears, and subsistence becomes more difficult, the zigeuners draw nearer to settled parts of the country.
Chambers's Journal 3 May 274/1 - 1962
From two million Zigeuners three years ago—a figure already held to be exaggerated—the number claimed today has risen to 12 million.
Times 3 January 6
- gyptian1533–1874A member of a widely dispersed, traditionally itinerant people originating in South Asia and now found mainly in Europe and North and South…
- Egyptian1538–= Gypsy, n. & adj.
- Bohemian1574–A Gypsy, a member of the Romani people. Now rare (chiefly historical).
- Gypsy1574–Usually with capital initial. A member of a widely dispersed, traditionally itinerant people originating in South Asia and now found mainly in… Now sometimes considered derogatory or offensive, the term Gypsy has been steadily replaced in official contexts by Romani or (in plural) Roma. Nevertheless, Gypsy remains the most widely used term for this group among English-speakers. It is also sometimes used to refer to or include Travellers (see traveller, n. 2b.i), whose way of life is similar in certain respects. However, this usage is generally deprecated by members of both communities.
- tinker1575–British and Irish English. Chiefly derogatory. Any itinerant trader, performer, or beggar; spec. (esp. Scottish and Irish English) a Traveller…
- Zingani1581–1879With plural agreement. The Romani people; Gypsies collectively. Cf. zingana, n.¹, Zingaro, n.
- Zingaro1600–A member of the Romani people, a Gypsy; (in later use) esp. one from Italy. Cf. Zingara, n., Zingani, n. Now rare and sometimes considered offensive.
- moonman1608–cant. A Gypsy. Now historical.
- faw1756–A Gypsy, Traveller, or other person with an itinerant way of life.
- vagabond1756–A nomad. rare.
- Zingara1756–A Romani woman or girl. Cf. Zingaro, n., zingana, n.¹
- gitano1761–A Romani man or boy from Spain (esp. Andalusia); a male Spanish Gypsy. Cf. gitana, n.
- gitanac1770–A Romani woman or girl from Spain (esp. Andalusia); a female Spanish Gypsy. Cf. gitano, n.
- Roman1800–= Rom, n.²
- Romani1800–A member of a widely dispersed ethnic group, found mainly in Europe and North and South America, tracing its origins to South Asia; = Rom, n.² Cf…
- Tzigane1802–A member of the Romani people; a Gypsy, esp. one from central or eastern Europe, particularly Hungary. Now often considered offensive.
- Zigeuner1802–Esp. in German-speaking countries or in Hungary: a member of the Romani people, a Gypsy. Now rare and often considered offensive.
- Sinti1827–A Romani people of central and eastern Europe. Also occasionally as a count noun: a member of this people.
- piker1838–Chiefly English regional. derogatory. (A term of abuse for) a vagrant, tramp, or good-for-nothing; = pikey, n. & adj.¹
- pikey1838–Chiefly English regional (south-eastern) slang. derogatory. Now considered offensive. A traveller or Gypsy; a vagrant, a tramp; (hence more generally) a lower-class person, regarded as coarse or disreputable.
- Rom1841–A member of a widely dispersed ethnic group, found mainly in Europe and North and South America, tracing its origins to South Asia and speaking a…
- Zincalo1841–A Spanish Romani person (esp. a man or boy). Often in plural. Cf. gitano, n., Zincala, n.
- Romanichal1843–A member of a widely dispersed ethnic group, found mainly in Europe and North and South America, tracing its origins to South Asia; = Romani, n. A.1.
- Zincala1844–91A Romani woman or girl from Spain. Cf. gitana, n., Zincalo, n.
- Zigeunerin1845–83In German or German-speaking contexts: a Romani woman or girl.
- nomadian1847A nomad.
- Romanichal1851–spec. (usually in form Romany chal). A Romani boy or man. Cf. Romany chai, n. Now rare.
- Romany chai1851–A Romani girl or woman. Cf. Romanichal, n. A.2.
- didicoi1853–British (colloquial and regional). Now usually derogatory and offensive. A Gypsy, a member of the Romani people; (also) a member of any traditionally itinerant community; a Traveller. Sometimes (chiefly in Romani usage)…
- Bedouin1863–transferred. One who leads a Bedouin-like life elsewhere; a wanderer, an itinerant. (Cf. city Arab, n.)
- gyppo1868–Chiefly British. A member of the Romani people; a Gypsy. Now also in extended use: a poor or ill-kempt person. Now offensive and derogatory.
- zingana1883A Romani woman or girl. Cf. Zingani, n., Zingara, n.
- gyp1886–colloquial (sometimes considered offensive). A Gypsy; a member of the Romani people.
- adjective(in attributive use).
- 1869–Designating a Zigeuner; of or relating to Zigeuners; esp. of, relating to, or characteristic of traditional central European Romani music.
- 1869
Liszt..gives a most interesting account of a promising zigeuner lad, on whom he tried the experiment of musical training.
J. C. Byrne, Pictures Hungarian Life iii. 87 - 1946
Billy Reid's ‘Gypsy’ tees off with a typical ‘zigeuner’ fiddle intro as a scene setter.
Billboard 11 May 33/1 - 2001
Vardos, a new folk ensemble specialising in the popular Zigeuner tradition, playing Romanian and Hungarian music.
Canberra Times (Nexis) 26 December a20
- nomadian1591–1844Nomadic; itinerant.
- Gypsy1595–Designating a Gypsy; Romani (Romani, adj.).
- Bohemian1665–Gypsy, Romani. Now rare.
- gypsyish1787–Resembling or characteristic of a Gypsy.
- nomad1798–= nomadic, adj. 1a.
- nomadical1801–Characteristic of a nomad; itinerant. Cf. nomadic, adj. 1a, 2.
- nomadic1807–Of a person or group of people: living as a nomad or nomads; itinerant. Also in extended use.
- nomade1819–72= nomad, adj. B.1.
- Romani1837–That is a Rom; of or relating to the Roma or their language.
- pikey1838–Chiefly English regional (south-eastern) slang. derogatory. Now considered offensive. Of or relating to such people; (also in later use) squalid, disreputable, vulgar.
- Romanian1841–Of or relating to the Roma (see Rom, n.² & adj.) or their language.
- Roman1851–= Rom, adj.
- Romanichal1851–That is Romani; of or relating to Romani peoples.
- Tzigane1853–Designating a Tzigane; of or relating to Tziganes; esp. of or relating to traditional Hungarian Romani music.
- mobile1866–Of a group of people, a species, etc.: prone to or capable of movement, migration, or travel; nomadic; peripatetic.
- Zigeuner1869–Designating a Zigeuner; of or relating to Zigeuners; esp. of, relating to, or characteristic of traditional central European Romani music.
- Rom1906–Now esp. in form Roma. That is a Rom. Also: of or relating to the Roma.
- gyppo1924–Chiefly British. Designating a member of the Romani people. Now offensive and derogatory.
Pronunciation
British English
U.S. English
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Consonants
- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing
* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence
Vowels
- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
View the pronunciation model here.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values
- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige
Vowels
- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot
Forms
Inflections
Variant forms
Frequency
Zigeuner typically occurs about 0.03 times per million words in modern written English.
Zigeuner is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands
Frequency of Zigeuner, n. & adj., 1800–2010
* Occurrences per million words in written English
Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.
The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.
For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.
Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.
| Decade | Frequency per million words |
|---|---|
| 1800 | 0.016 |
| 1810 | 0.016 |
| 1820 | 0.016 |
| 1830 | 0.017 |
| 1840 | 0.016 |
| 1850 | 0.017 |
| 1860 | 0.019 |
| 1870 | 0.019 |
| 1880 | 0.019 |
| 1890 | 0.02 |
| 1900 | 0.021 |
| 1910 | 0.021 |
| 1920 | 0.021 |
| 1930 | 0.02 |
| 1940 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 0.021 |
| 1960 | 0.023 |
| 1970 | 0.024 |
| 1980 | 0.028 |
| 1990 | 0.03 |
| 2000 | 0.032 |
| 2010 | 0.034 |