nachna

Updated: May 7, 2025

All of my readers have heard of the Nautch girls, the so-called bayaderes or dancing-girls of India; but very few, I suppose, are aware that their generic name is remotely preserved in several English Gipsy words. Nachna in Hindustani means to dance, while the Nats, who are a kind of Gipsies, are generally jugglers, dancers, and musicians.

Charles Godfrey Leland - The English Gipsies and Their Language