gypsy

Etymology

See Gypsy. The generic usage that refers to any itinerant person. Compare bohemian, from Bohemia.

noun

1. (sometimes offensive) Alternative form of Gypsy: a member of the Romani people.
2. (colloquial) An itinerant person or any person, not necessarily Romani; a tinker, a traveller or a carny.
3. (sometimes offensive) A move in contra dancing in which two dancers walk in a circle around each other while maintaining eye contact (but not touching as in a swing). (Compare whole gyp, half gyp, and gypsy meltdown, in which this step precedes a swing.)
4. (theater) A member of a Broadway musical chorus line.
5. (dated) A person with a dark complexion.
6. (dated) A sly, roguish woman.
7. (dated, colloquial) A fortune teller

adj

1. Alternative form of Gypsy: of or belonging to the Romani people.
2. (offensive) Of or having the qualities of an itinerant person or group with qualities traditionally ascribed to Romani people; making a living from dishonest practices or theft etc.

verb

1. (intransitive) To roam around the country like a gypsy.
   The rest of the day is spent out of doors "Gypsying", and families greatly enjoy themselves on these occasions. 1885, Richard F. Burton, chapter XX, in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume I, The Burton Club, page 199 footnote
2. To perform the gypsy step in contra dancing.
   Look at the person you're gypsying with, and convey the message that you notice them as a person and that you're glad that they're there, […] April 7 1992, win...@ssrl01.slac.stanford.edu, “contra-gypsies”, in rec.folk-dancing (Usenet)
   The only one I know of is The Tease by Tom Hinds which starts with the actives gypsying and then swinging their neighbors and ends with contra […] September 9 1998, Jonathan Sivier, “Contra Corners - followed by gypsy”, in rec.folk-dancing (Usenet)