Ghetto
/ˈɡɛt.oʊ/noun
A part of a city where a minority group is forced or strongly pressured to live.
Did you know?The word first referred to the Venetian island neighborhood where a foundry once stood, and it was later used for the city’s Jewish quarter before spreading far beyond Italy.
Etymological Timeline
Early 16th Century
Italian
ghetto
“The name of a Venetian district built on a former iron foundry site”
16th Century
Italian
ghetto
“The segregated Jewish quarter in Venice”
17th Century
French
ghetto
“A Jewish quarter or segregated neighborhood”
19th Century
English
ghetto
“A district where Jews were confined in some European cities”
20th Century
English
ghetto
“Any urban area marked by enforced or de facto segregation”