bohemian English · revision 1216

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bəʊˈhiː.miː.ən/ ''(UK)''; /boʊˈhi.mi.ən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a transferred use of ''Bohemian'' “native of Bohemia”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) after [[bor|fr|bohémien|t=a Bohemian; a Gypsy]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The French had used ''bohémien'' for the Roma since the 15th century,^(Etymonline) who were wrongly believed to have come from Bohemia.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) The country name goes back to Latin ''Boiohaemum'', from the ''Boii'', a people of ancient Gaul who settled there.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A native of Bohemia (before 1398 as a gloss in English;^(Barnhart 1995) 1555 in Merriam-Webster; 1603 in the OED).^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In English the word also meant a follower of John Huss (1579)^(OED 1989) and a Gypsy (1696).^(OED 1989) The sense of a person, especially an artist or writer, who lives free of conventional standards appeared in 1848,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) after French, where it was attested by 1834^(Etymonline) and popularized by Henri Murger's ''Scènes de la vie de bohème'' in the late 1840s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1398 – a native of Bohemia.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1579 – a Hussite.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1696 – a Gypsy.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1848 – an unconventional artist or writer.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1861 – adjective, characteristic of such people.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person, often an [[artist]] or writer, who lives an unconventional life with little regard for social rules.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(capitalized)'' A native or inhabitant of Bohemia.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(capitalized)'' The [[Czech]] language, especially as spoken in Bohemia.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Unconventional in habits or dress, in the manner of a bohemian.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(capitalized)'' Of Bohemia, its people or their language.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bohemianism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Bohemia]]

+ * [[Gypsy]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}