There are also numerous subgroups and clans with their own self-designations, such as the Sinti, Kalderash, Boyash, Manouche, Lovari, Lăutari, Machvaya, Romanichal, Romanisael, Calé, Kale, Kaale, Xoraxai, Xaladytka, Romungro, Ursari and Sevlengere.
[9] Sometimes, Rom and Romani are spelled with a double r, i.e., rrom and rromani, particularly in Romania in order to distinguish from the Romanian endonym (români), to which it has no relation.
[18][19] The word, while sometimes positively embraced by Romani persons, is also sometimes rejected by other Romani persons as offensive due to it being tainted by its use as a racial slur and a pejorative connotation implying illegality and irregularity,[20] and some modern dictionaries either recommend avoiding use of the word gypsy entirely or give it a negative or warning label.
[21] A British House of Commons Committee parliamentary inquiry, as described in their report "Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities" (published 2019),[22] stated about their findings in the United Kingdom that: "We asked many members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities how they preferred to describe themselves.
The Oxford English Dictionary states a 'gipsy' is a member of a wandering race (by themselves called Romany), of Indian origin, which first appeared in England about the beginning of the 16th c. The first usage of the word in English found by the OED was 1514, with several more usages in the same century, and both Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare used this word.
[34] Romani "gipsies" have been a recognised ethnic group for the purposes of Race Relations Act 1976 since Commission for Racial Equality v Dutton 1989, as have Irish Travellers in England and Wales since O'Leary v Allied Domecq 2000 (having already gained recognition in Northern Ireland in 1997).
In the text, emperor Constantine Monomachos employs the Adsincani to exterminate wild animals, who were destroying the game in the imperial park of Philopation.
[43] An alternative etymological approach traces the Greek tsiganos/atsiganos to the Sanskrit atingan(in) and tyāgan(in), with the meaning ‘nomad, migrant, searcher, traveller’.
In German-speaking Europe, the self-designation is Sinti, in France Manush, while the groups of Spain, Wales, and Finland use Calé, Kalé and Kaale (from kalo meaning "black" in Romani language).