bohemia

/boʊˈhimiə/

Etymology

Latinized translation of French Bohême, from Late Latin Boiohaemum, compound of Boio- (“the Boii”), the Celtic tribe previously inhabiting the area and Germanic *haimaz (“home”) (more at home). The endonym is from Proto-Celtic *boyos and could ultimately be from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cattle”) (compare Proto-Celtic *bāus (“cattle”), genitive *bowos), a reference to cattle owners, or from *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit”), i.e. “warrior, strong hitter” (compare Proto-Celtic *binati (“to strike, hit”)). Bohemia was abandoned by the Boii c. 60 BCE and settled by the Germanic Marcomanni shortly thereafter. Related to Bavaria.

name

  1. A cultural region in the west of the former Czechoslovakia and present-day Czech Republic.
  2. A place name elsewhere:; A place in England:; An inner suburb of Hastings, East Sussex (OS grid ref TQ8010).
  3. A place name elsewhere:; A place in England:; A hamlet in Redlynch parish, south-east Wiltshire (OS grid ref SU2019).
  4. A place name elsewhere:; A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
  5. A place name elsewhere:; A place in the United States:; A township in Ontonagon County, Michigan.
  6. A place name elsewhere:; A place in the United States:; A township in Knox County, Nebraska.

noun

  1. A community of bohemians, unconventional artists or writers.
  2. The world or social milieu of such bohemians.“There was about him a certain bar-room grandiloquence that fitted easily with the shabby Bohemia of Cripps's studio, but which the curate, unused to the literary vocabulary, found exceedingly impressive.”