Romany (Gypsy) Nomadic people and their language. Romanies are believed to have originated in n India, and now inhabit Europe, Asia, America, Africa, and Australia. They first appeared in Europe in the 15th century. Their nomadic lifestyle aroused prejudice, often resulting in persecution. Their folklore is part of popular tradition. The Romany language originated in n India, and like Hindi and Sanskrit to which it is related, it belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the family of Indo-European languages. Many Romanies today speak it as a second language, but there is little written Romany.

Romany the language of the gypsies, which is an Indo-European language related to Hindi. It is spoken by a dispersed group of about 1 million people, and has many dialects. The name comes (in the early 19th century) from Romany Romani, feminine and plural of the adjective Romano, from Rom ‘man, husband’.
Romany rye a man who is not a gypsy by birth, but who lives with gypsies; the phrase is first recorded in George Borrow's Lavengro (1851), an account of a wandering life apparently based on Borrow' own; the sequel, published in 1857, was called The Romany Rye. (Rye here represents Romany rai ‘gentleman’.)

Rom·a·ny / ˈrämənē; ˈrō-/ (also Rom·a·ni) • n. (pl. -nies) 1. the Indic language of the gypsies, spoken in many dialects.2. a gypsy.• adj. of or relating to gypsies or their language.

Romany see ROM.