Note 110 — Chapter III · A REVIEW OF M. PAUL BATAILLARD’S REVIEWS
Reading edition
Rom (man), masc. sing.; Romá (men), masc. plur. Romni, Romniá, woman, women; Romaní, adjectival, belonging to man. Hence our phrases “rum fellow” and “pottering Rommany.” Lom is a mere popular mispronunciation of Rom, and Ro is a vulgar abbreviation. The latter word I would derive from the Coptic [Greek: ρωμε: rôme] (romé), a man.