Complex sentence: The use of the word is first found prolifically in the 17th century; it was one of many unsavory practices alleged to have been practiced by the Gypsies, who were readily demonized due to their perennial outsider status.
Split into simpler sentences: The use of the word is first found prolifically in the 17th century;. It was one of many unsavory practices alleged to have been practiced by the Gypsies, who were readily demonized due to their perennial outsider status.