bohemian
UK /bəʊ̯ˈhiː.miː.ən/ · US /boʊˈhimi.ən/ noun, adjective, proper noun
Forms bohemians
- noun A person, especially an artist or writer, who lives an unconventional or nonconformist lifestyle.
- adjective Unconventional, especially in habit or dress.
- noun A native or resident of Bohemia.
- noun (now rare) A Gypsy, a Romani.
- adjective Of, or relating to Bohemia or its language.
- proper noun (now historical) The Czech language.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French bohémien (“person from Bohemia”), from Bohême (“Bohemia”), equivalent to Bohemia + -an.
From Bohemia + -ian. First attested in 1548.
In sense of Romani and by association, marginalized artists, from bohémien (“person from Bohemia, Romani”). Regarding the sense evolution, compare gypsy.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Of or pertaining to Bohemia, or to the language of its ancient inhabitants or their descendants. See Bohemian, n., 2.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a social gypsy or "Bohemian" (see Bohemian, n., 3); vagabond; unconventional; free and easy. [Modern]
- noun A native of Bohemia.
- noun The language of the Czechs (the ancient inhabitants of Bohemia), the richest and most developed of the dialects of the Slavic family.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bohemian”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details