BOHEMIAN • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Bohemian

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/boʊhˈimiən/ Listen

adjective

Bohemian adj.

1.

Of or pertaining to Bohemia, or to the language of its ancient inhabitants or their descendants. See Bohemian, n., 2.

2.

Of or pertaining to a social gypsy or "Bohemian" (see Bohemian, n., 3); vagabond; unconventional; free and easy. (Modern) "Hers was a pleasant Bohemian life till she was five and thirty." "Artists have abandoned their Bohemian manners and customs nowadays."

Bohemian chatterer, or Bohemian waxwing (Zool.), a small bird of Europe and America (Ampelis garrulus); the waxwing.

Bohemian glass, a variety of hard glass of fine quality, made in Bohemia. It is of variable composition, containing usually silica, lime, and potash, rarely soda, but no lead. It is often remarkable for beauty of color.

noun

Bohemian n.

1.

A native of Bohemia.

2.

The language of the Czechs (the ancient inhabitants of Bohemia), the richest and most developed of the dialects of the Slavic family.

3.

A restless vagabond; originally, an idle stroller or gypsy (as in France) thought to have come from Bohemia; in later times often applied to an adventurer in art or literature, of irregular, unconventional habits, questionable tastes, or free morals. (Modern) Note: In this sense from the French bohémien, a gypsy; also, a person of irregular habits. "She was of a wild, roving nature, inherited from father and mother, who were both Bohemians by taste and circumstances."

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Etymology of 'Bohemian'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Bohemian" Quotes from Famous Books

... series. The old parish registers of Kaskaskia, going back to 1695, contain some remarkable names of the Indian mothers—such as Maria Aramipinchicoue and Domitilla Tehuigouanakigaboucoue. Sometimes the man is only distinguished by some such title as "The Parisian," or "The Bohemian." ...

— The Winning of the West, Volume One - From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1769-1776 • Theodore Roosevelt

... supper, not in the English way but the French, same as they do at the Catsare[2] in Paris. This pleased them all very much, and I could see that the most part of them were not real ladies and gentlemen at all, but riff-raff Bohemian stuff out for a spree, and determined to have one. The supper itself was the most amusing affair you ever saw; for what must they do but flop down on the floor just where they stood, not minding the bare boards at all, and eat cold chicken and twist rolls from paper bags the footman threw ...

— The Man Who Drove the Car • Max Pemberton

... Bohemian reformer, followed closely after the doctrine of Wyclif, although he disagreed with him in his opposition to transubstantiation. He preached for constitutional reform of the church, reformative administration, and morality. He ...

— History of Human Society • Frank W. Blackmar

... indicating that the process of "borrowing" has already, in some form, begun,—process which will have to continue: and to develop itself;—and that his Majesty, as Seckendorf well knows, is resolved upon his Bohemian journey:— ...

— History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. IX. (of XXI.) • Thomas Carlyle

... elbows. Each biologist has a caraffa of light wine on the table before him, and all are smoking. And, staid men of science that they are, they are chattering away on trivial topics with the animation of a company of school-boys. The stock language is probably German, for this bohemian gathering is essentially a German institution; but the Germans are polyglots, and you will hardly find yourself lost in their company, whatever your ...

— A History of Science, Volume 5(of 5) - Aspects Of Recent Science • Henry Smith Williams

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