bohemia
UK[bəʊˈhiːmiə]US[boʊˈhiːmiə]
n
A community of people, especially artists and writers, who live in an unconventional, nonconforming manner.
n
The district or environment where such people live.
Etymology
The word 'bohemia' is a toponym, deriving from the Latin name 'Boiohaemum', meaning "home of the Boii," a Celtic tribe. In 19th-century France, particularly Paris, it was erroneously believed that the Romani people, who were associated with a nomadic and artistic lifestyle, originated from the Bohemia region. French writers thus began using 'bohémien' to describe the unconventional, impoverished artists and intellectuals living in cities. English borrowed this French term in the mid-19th century, abstracting it from the geographical reference to signify the social environment and its nonconformist inhabitants, thereby completing its journey from a tribal homeland to a metaphor for artistic counterculture.
Analysis
The word is a loanword adopted as a single, unsegmentable unit into English. It originates from the name of a Central European region, Bohemia, which became associated with a particular lifestyle.
Examples
In the 1920s, the Montparnasse district of Paris was a famous bohemia for painters and writers.
She embraced a bohemia lifestyle, valuing creative freedom over material possessions.
The city's old quarter has become a modern bohemia, full of independent galleries and cafes.