ghetto

ghet-to · noun

imported

Definitions

noun

  1. 1.

    (historical) A part of a city where Jews were required to live, especially in European cities.

  2. 2.

    An area of a city, typically densely populated and impoverished, occupied by a minority group or groups.

  3. 3.

    (informal, sometimes offensive) An isolated or segregated group or area.

  4. 4.

    (as adjective, slang) Cheap, inferior, or makeshift.

Forms

plural: ghettos

Related words

See also: neighborhood, segregation, slum
Synonyms: inner city, quarter, slum

Etymology

From Italian ghetto, possibly from getto ("foundry"), referring to the area in Venice where Jews were required to live from 1516, near a foundry. Alternative theories suggest origins in Hebrew or Yiddish.