Gadjo

In Romani culture, a '''''gorja''''', '''''gadjo''''' (masculine), or '''''gadji''''' (feminine) is a person who has no ''Romanipen''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Their name: Roma? Sinto? Gypsy? |url=https://sfi.usc.edu/education/roma-sinti/en/conosciamo-i-roma-e-i-sinti/chi-sono/da-dove-vengono-il-nome/il-nome-rom-sinto-zingaro.php#:~:text=The%20Roma%20call%20non%2DRoma,Gaujo%20or%20Gorgio%20in%20English |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231227025841/https://sfi.usc.edu/education/roma-sinti/en/conosciamo-i-roma-e-i-sinti/chi-sono/da-dove-vengono-il-nome/il-nome-rom-sinto-zingaro.php |archive-date=27 December 2023 |website=USC Shoah Foundation}}</ref> This usually corresponds to not being an ethnic Romani, but it can also refer to an ethnic Romani who does not live within Romani society. The term is often used by Romanis to address or denote outsider neighbors living within or very near their community.

==Etymology== The exact origin of the word ''gadjo'' is not known. One theory considers that it may come from the proto-Romani word for "peasant" and has the same root as the Romani word ''gav'' (village).<ref>{{cite book|title=Danger! Educated Gypsy: Selected Essays|page=103}}</ref>

==In other languages== ===Bulgarian=== The word has been borrowed in Bulgarian as ''гадже'' (gadzhe),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ibl.bas.bg/lib/ber/#page/318/mode/1up | title=Електронна библиотека Българско езикознание |language=bg |trans-title=Electronic Library Bulgarian Linguistics}}{{Better source needed|reason=provided link is a scanned copy of a Bulgarian dictionary, which is difficult to search, especially as it is entirely in Cyrillic.|date=August 2025}}</ref> meaning boyfriend or girlfriend.

===French=== The word has been borrowed into French slang as ''gadjo'' (masculine) and ''gadji'' (feminine), meaning a boy or girl (or less frequently, a man or a woman) or boyfriend and girlfriend.<ref>{{Citation |title=gadjo |date=17 March 2025 |work=Wiktionnaire, le dictionnaire libre |url=https://fr.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=gadjo&oldid=37466297 |access-date=9 October 2025 |language=fr |trans-title=Wiktionary, the free dictionary}}</ref>

===Portuguese=== The European Portuguese words ''gajo'' (masculine) and ''gaja'' (feminine) originate in Romani/Caló and are used as everyday slang to refer to a man or a woman (usually referring to old teenagers or young adults), in a usage similar to "guy" and "gal" in English. The word ''gazim'' has been attested as a rare use in Brazilian Portuguese, with the meaning of a strange (i.e., foreign) woman, probably with roots in the Romani ''gadji''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpsqAAAAMAAJ&q=gazim+gypsy+calo|title=Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society|date=1950 |page=142}}</ref>

===Scots=== The word is encountered as ''gadgie'' (or sometimes ''gadge'') in Scots, formerly only used by the Roma/Traveller community, but since the 20th century, it has been in general use by the Scots-speaking population.<ref name="Scotslanguage">{{Cite web |title=Gadgie |url=https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/id/4486 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208152715/https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/id/4486 |archive-date=8 December 2023 |website=Scots Language Centre}}</ref> In most areas it is heard, notably Edinburgh, the Borders, and Dingwall,<ref name="dsl1">{{Cite web |title=Gadgie |url=https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sndns1656 |website=Dictionary of the Scots Language}}</ref> ''gadgie'' has a generalised meaning of a man that the speaker doesn't know well. In Dundee, it is a more pejorative term, referring to a poorly educated person who engages in hooliganism or petty criminality. In the village of Aberchirder, it refers to a local person.<ref name="Foggieloan">{{Cite web |title=Gadgie |url=http://www.foggieloan.co.uk/gossip/sept11/gadgie.htm |website=foggieloan.co.uk}}</ref>

===Spanish/Caló=== [[File:Manifestación contra la intolerancia, Madrid 6 mayo 2019.jpg|250px|thumb|Demonstration against intolerance: "Gadjes and Romas go hand in hand" (Madrid, 6 May 2019)]]

The word passed from Caló to Spanish slang as ''gachó''<ref name="DLEº">[https://dle.rae.es/?id=IgsgFcs gachó] in the Diccionario de la lengua española.</ref> (masculine) / ''gachí''<ref name="DLEª">[https://dle.rae.es/?id=IgrPma0 gachí] in the Diccionario de la lengua española.</ref> (feminine), acquiring the generalized meaning "man, guy" / "woman, girl". The Caló word for a non-Gitano is ''payo''/''paya''.<ref name="DLE payo">[https://dle.rae.es/?id=SEbjzxN payo] at the Diccionario de la lengua española.</ref>

==See also== * ''Gadjo dilo'', film about a French man's travels to Romania to find a Romani singer * ''Gaijin'', Japanese term for "foreigner" * ''Goy'', Hebrew and Yiddish term for "non-Jew" * ''Gora'', racial epithet for white people in India * ''Gringo'', Spanish and Portuguese term for "foreigner"

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Cite web |title=Excerpts from ''Roma'' by WR Rishi: Etymology of the Word "Gajo" |url=http://www.romani.org/rishi/retygajo.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514005741/http://www.romani.org/rishi/retygajo.html |archive-date=14 May 2008}}

Category:Ethno-cultural designations Category:Exonyms Category:Pejorative terms for strangers and foreigners Category:Romani-related controversies Category:Romani society Category:Romani words and phrases