Etymology, Origin And Meaning Of Bohemian By Etymonline

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Origin and history of bohemian

bohemian(n.)

"a gypsy of society; person (especially an artist) who lives a free and somewhat dissipated life, despising conventionalities and having little regard for social standards," 1848, from a transferred sense of French bohemién "a Bohemian; a Gypsy," from the country name (see Bohemia). The Middle English word for "a resident or native of Bohemia" was Bemener.

The French used bohemién since 15c. to also mean "Gypsy." The Roma were wrongly believed to have come from there, perhaps because their first appearance in Western Europe may have been immediately from Bohemia, or because they were confused with the 15c. Bohemian Hussite heretics, who were driven from their country about that time.

The transferred sense, in reference to unconventional living, is attested in French by 1834 and was popularized by Henri Murger's stories from the late 1840s later collected as "Scenes de la Vie de Boheme" (the basis of Puccini's "La Bohème"). It appears in English 1848 in Thackary's "Vanity Fair."

The term 'Bohemian' has come to be very commonly accepted in our day as the description of a certain kind of literary gipsey, no matter in what language he speaks, or what city he inhabits .... A Bohemian is simply an artist or littérateur who, consciously or unconsciously, secedes from conventionality in life and in art. [Westminster Review, 1862]

Hence also the adjective, "unconventional, free from social restraints" (1848).

also from 1848

Entries linking to bohemian

Bohemia

central European kingdom, mid-15c., Beeme, from French Boheme "Bohemia," from Latin Boiohaemum (Tacitus), from Boii, the Celtic people who settled in what is now Bohemia (and were driven from it by the Germanic Marcomans early 1c.; singular Boius, fem. Boia, perhaps literally "warriors") + Proto-Germanic *haimaz "home" (see home (n.)). Attested from 1861 in meaning "community of artists and social Bohemians" or in reference to a district where they live (see bohemian).

flamenco(n.)

1880 as "gypsy"; 1882, "gypsy dancing in Andalusia," from Spanish flamenco. The word in Spanish meant "a Fleming, native of Flanders" (Dutch Vlaming) and also "flamingo." Speculations are varied and colorful about the connection between the bird, the people, and the gypsy dance of Andalusia.

For the possible sense evolution from "Fleming" to "gypsy" compare bohemian and Gypsy. Another etymology suggests the dance was so called from the bright costumes and energetic movements, which the Spanish associated with Flanders; another is that Spaniards, especially Andalusians, like to name things by their opposites, and because the Flemish were tall and blond and the gypsies short and dark, the gypsies were called "Flemish;" others hold that flamenco was the general Spanish word for all foreigners, gypsies included; or that Flemish noblemen, bored with court life, took to slumming among the gypsies.

• Gypsy
• hobo
• See All Related Words (4)

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Trends of bohemian

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

Czechwesternmost branch of the Slavic people," the native name for Bohemians (and including the Moravians), 1848, from Czech český "Bohemian...droogThe Russian word comes from Old Church Slavonic drugu "companion, friend, other" (source of Bohemian drug "companion," Serbo-Croatian...boothalso bower, and compare German Bude "booth, stall," Middle Dutch boode, Lithuanian butas "house," Old Irish both "hut," Bohemian...Bloomsbury1910, in reference to the set of Bohemian writers, artists, and intellectuals (including E.M....yearsingular) "year;" Greek hōra "year, season, any part of a year," also "any part of a day, hour;" Old Church Slavonic jaru, Bohemian...bourgeoisDialogues," 1907] "But after all," Fanning was saying, "it's better to be a good ordinary bourgeois than a bad ordinary bohemian...ape, German affe), probably a borrowed word, perhaps from Celtic (compare Old Irish apa, Welsh epa) or Slavic (compare Old Bohemian...recusant"obstinate in refusal," 1610s, from Latin recusantem (nominative recusans) "refusing to obey," present participle of recusare "make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be reluctant to" (see recuse). Earlier as a noun in English history, specifically of those who refusenonconformistalso non-conformist, "one who does not conform to some law or usage," 1610s, originally and especially of clergymen who adhered to Church of England doctrine but not its practice, from non- + conformist. After their ejection under the Act of Uniformity (1662) the name passed to tIndian"inhabit of India or South Asia; pertaining to India," c. 1300 (noun and adjective), from Late Latin indianus, from India (see India). Applied to the aboriginal native inhabitants of the Americas from at least 1553 as a noun (1610s as an adjective), reflecting Spanish and Portugu

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‘cite’Page URL:https://www.etymonline.com/word/bohemianCopyHTML Link:<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/bohemian">Etymology of bohemian by etymonline</a>CopyAPA Style:Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of bohemian. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved January 20, 2026, from https://www.etymonline.com/word/bohemianCopyChicago Style:Harper Douglas, "Etymology of bohemian," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed January 20, 2026, https://www.etymonline.com/word/bohemian.CopyMLA Style:Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of bohemian." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/bohemian. Accessed 20 January, 2026.CopyIEEE Style:D. Harper. "Etymology of bohemian." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/bohemian (accessed January 20, 2026).CopyRemove AdsAdvertisement

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TrendingDictionary entries near bohemian

• Bogota
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• Bohemia
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