zingaro

See also: zíngaro and Zingaro

English

Etymology

From Italian. Doublet of tzigane.

Noun

zingaro (plural zingaros or zingari)

1. (archaic) A Gypsy.
   • 1969, Georges Perec, translated by Gilbert Adair, A Void:

     Sporting a woolly cardigan with four buttons on top of an Oxford smock without a collar, our man has a faintly folksy look about him, calling to mind a zingaro or a gypsy, a carny or a Mongol, but also (switching to a wholly distinct mythology and iconography) a hippy strumming his guitar in a barroom in Haight-Ashbury or at Big Sur or in Katmandu.

Related terms

• Zincalo

Anagrams

• Gorzian

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zɛ̃.ɡa.ʁo/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

zingaro (plural zingaros)

1. zingaro

Further reading

• “zingaro”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Alternative forms

• zingano (archaic)
• zigano

Etymology

Dissimilated form of earlier zingano, most likely from a Greek term meaning "untouchable". Compare the modern Greek designations Τσιγγάνοι (Tsingánoi), Αθίγγανοι (Athínganoi), τσιγγάνος (tsingános). Cognate to German Zigeuner.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ^*/ˈd͡zin.ɡa.ro/, (traditional) ^*/ˈt͡sin.ɡa.ro/
• Rhymes: -inɡaro
• Hyphenation: zìn‧ga‧ro

Noun

zingaro m (plural zingari, feminine zingara)

1. Gypsy, Roma
   • 1975, “Rimmel”, in Rimmel, performed by Francesco De Gregori:

     Chi mi ha fatto le carte / mi ha chiamato vincente / ma uno zingaro, è un trucco.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (offensive) a scruffy or slovenly person
3. tinker
4. (figuratively) a person who likes to travel, who cannot stay a long time in one place
   • 1971, “Il cuore è uno zingaro”, performed by Nicola Di Bari:

     Catene non ha, / il cuore è uno zingaro e va.

     It has no chains, / the heart is a Gypsy and goes away.

Adjective

zingaro (feminine zingara, masculine plural zingari, feminine plural zingare)

1. (relational) Gypsy, Romani

Anagrams

• Garzoni, garzino, garzoni, grazino