Tzigane

[ tsi-gahn ]

/ tsɪˈgɑn /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for Tzigane on Thesaurus.com

adjective

(often lowercase) of, consisting of, or pertaining to the Roma: Tzigane music.

noun

a Romani, especially one from Hungary.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of Tzigane

First recorded in 1880–85; from French tzigane, probably from Hungarian cigány, akin to German Zigeuner, Romanian ţigan, Serbo-Croatian cȉganin, Bulgarian tsíganin, all ultimately from Medieval Greek (a)tsínganos, earlier athínganos member of a heretical sect of Phrygia, perhaps literally, “untouchable, inviolable” (Greek a- “not, without” + -thinganos, derivative of thingánein “to touch”); cf. zingaro

Words nearby Tzigane

tzarism, tzatziki, tzedakah, Tzekung, tzetze fly, Tzigane, Tzigany, tzimmes, tzitzit, tzitzith, Tzom Gedaliah

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Tzigane in a sentence

The red Tzigane orchestra were already filing into the restaurant and the electric lamps were lit.
Septimus|William J. Locke
And you, you lowborn Tzigane, are the cheapest swindler on earth.
The Best Short Stories of 1921 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story|Various
Somebody played the languorous waltzes of the Tzigane orchestras on the piano.
Csar or Nothing|Po Baroja Baroja
They hired the best Tzigane orchestra in Paris—and the fashionable crowd stayed away.
In Vanity Fair|Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd

He now spoke in English, but later he relapsed into the Tzigane tongue.
Ruth Fielding and the Gypsies|Alice B. Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for Tzigane

Tzigane

/ (tsɪˈɡɑːn, sɪ-) /

noun

a Gypsy, esp a Hungarian one
(as modifier)Tzigane music

Word Origin for Tzigane

C19: via French from Hungarian czigány Gypsy, of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012