Romani
/ˈrɒm.ə.ni/noun
Relating to the Roma people or their Indo-Aryan language.
Did you know?Romani is an Indo-Aryan language whose core vocabulary reveals that the Roma’s distant linguistic ancestors migrated westward from the Indian subcontinent, likely beginning around the first millennium CE.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Indo-Aryan
Sanskrit
ḍomba
“A member of a traditionally peripatetic or performing community; often identified as an ancestral form connected with later Romani ethnonyms.”
Early Middle Indo-Aryan
Prakrit
ḍomba / ḍoma
“A community name associated with itinerant occupational groups in South Asia.”
Medieval period
Romani
rom
“A man, husband, or member of the Romani people; the exact historical relationship to earlier South Asian terms remains debated.”
Medieval–Modern period
Romani
romani
“Of or belonging to the Rom; the feminine or adjectival form in Romani.”
19th Century
English
Romani
“The name adopted in English for the Romani people, their culture, and their language, distinguishing it from the unrelated word Roman.”
Modern English
English
Romani
“Relating to the Roma people or their Indo-Aryan language.”