The Romani people (singular Rom, plural Roma as a noun; also known as Romanies or Roma people[disputed]) are an ethnic group with origins in India. The Romani people are a widely dispersed ethnic group, with the largest concentrated populations in Europe and the Americas. They are often referred to as Gypsies or Gipsies.
Rom (plural Roma) is a noun which means married man or husband. Some Romanies use it as an ethnic name, while others (such as the Sinti or the Romanichals, etc.) do not use this term as a self-ascription for the entire ethnic group. The term is used as a designation for the branch found in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, as well as a generic term for all the branches. Romani (or Romany) can be both an adjective and a noun. All Romanies use the word Romani as an adjective. For this reason, the term began to be used as a noun for the entire ethnic group.
Today, the term Romani is used by most organizations—including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the US Library of Congress. However, some organizations use the term Roma to refer to Romani people around the world. Since Roma is a noun, it is technically incorrect to be used as an adjective as in "Roma language" or "Roma diplomacy", although it is often used in this way. The correct forms would be: "Romani language" or "Romani diplomacy" Sometimes, Rom and Romani are spelled with a double r, i.e., Rrom and Rromani, particularly in Romania in order to distinguish from the Romanian endonym (români). This is well established in Romani itself, since it represents a sound different from the one written with a single.