ghetto
pronunciation
How to pronounce ghetto in British English:
UK [ˈɡetəʊ]
How to pronounce ghetto in American English:
US [ˈɡetoʊ]
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- Noun:
- formerly the restricted quarter of many European cities in which Jews were required to live
- any segregated mode of living or working that results from bias or stereotyping
- a poor densely populated city district occupied by a minority ethnic group linked together by economic hardship and social restrictions
Word Origin
- ghetto
- ghetto: [17] English acquired ghetto from Italian, but its precise history is uncertain. Among the suggestions are that it represents Italian getto ‘foundry’, from a Jewish enclave in Venice established on the site of a medieval foundry in 1516; that it is short for Italian borghetto, a diminutive form of borgo ‘settlement outside city walls’ (to which English borough is related); and that it was an alteration of Latin Aegyptus ‘Egypt’, presumably an allusion to the captivity of the Jews in Egypt.
- ghetto (n.)
- 1610s, "part of a city in which Jews are compelled to live," especially in Italy, from Italian ghetto "part of a city to which Jews are restricted," of unknown origin. The various theories trace it to: Yiddish get "deed of separation;" a special use of Venetian getto "foundry" (there was one near the site of that city's ghetto in 1516); a clipped form of Egitto "Egypt," from Latin Aegyptus (presumably in memory of the exile); or Italian borghetto "small section of a town" (diminutive of borgo, which is of Germanic origin; see borough). Extended by 1899 to crowded urban quarters of other minority groups (especially blacks in U.S. cities). As an adjective by 1903 (modern slang usage from 1999). Ghetto-blaster "large, portable stereo cassette-player" is from 1982.
Example
- 1. Wilson appreciates moynihan for shedding light on ghetto poverty .
- 2. In 2007 danah boyd heard a white american teenager describe myspace , the social network , as " like ghetto or whatever " .
- 3. For this reason , the police chief regularly changes policemen 's assignments so that they can escape from the tension and danger of patrols in the ghetto .
- 4. Wilson 's history is more recent , and his optimism is apparent : three generations of black ghetto dwellers have been relying on welfare and sporadic work and doing so in isolation from the mainstream .
- 5. This stencil of two " ghetto rats " in ac / dc lane is by banksy , the british stencilling star whose works have sold for up to $ 440000 .