Ghetto Meaning
/ˈɡɛ.təʊ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn (often walled) area of a city in which Jews are concentrated by force and law. (Used particularly of areas in medieval Italy and in Nazi-controlled Europe.)
nounAn (often impoverished) area of a city inhabited predominantly by members of a specific nationality, ethnicity, or race.
Sentence Examples
The ghetto in this town is dangerous at night.
The university is located a few blocks from the edge of the ghetto.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old ____ area had poor housing and few services.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city council is working on new projects to revitalize the ____ and improve living conditions for residents.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from the name of the Venetian Ghetto, whose etymology and original source language is uncertain. Compare Italian ghetto.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The Venetian ghetto, according to Sennett, was to provide protection from the unclean bodies of the Jews and their sullying touch. The Roman ghetto, on the other hand, was planned as an area for mission. It was supposed to collect the Jews in one place, so that it would be easier to convert them."
— 2009, Barbara Engelking-Boni, Jacek Leociak, The Warsaw ghetto: a guide to the perished city, →ISBN, page 25:
"[…] concentrating the Jewish community into ghettoes. The Germans not only started the ghettoes, but they had also opened a concentration camp […]"
— 2010, Mike Lindner, Leaving Terror Behind: A Boy's Journey to Painting Over the Past, →ISBN, page 49:
"Established by the Germans in October 1940, the Warsaw Ghetto was the largest Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Europe."
— 2023 April 19, Lianne Kolirin, “One of the last survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto resistance tells of the bravery of those who dared to stand up against the Nazis”, in CNN:
"Charlestown would also become one of Boston's three large Irish ghettoes."
— 1998, Steven J. L. Taylor, Desegregation in Boston and Buffalo: The Influence of Local Leaders, →ISBN, page 15:
"By 1960 the growth and development of Chicago's black areas of residence confirmed the existence of the city's second ghetto."
— 1998, Arnold R. Hirsch, Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, 1940-1960, →ISBN, page 253:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old ____ area had poor housing and few services.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city council is working on new projects to revitalize the ____ and improve living conditions for residents.