 The "Oxford English Dictionary" states a 'gipsy' is a According to the OED, the word was first used in English in 1514, with several more uses in the same century, and both Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare used this word.This exonym is sometimes written with a capital letter, to show that it designates an ethnic group.The Spanish term "gitano", the French term "gitan" and the Basque term "ijito" have the same origin.