# ghetto

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡɛ.təʊ/ · frequency rank #11,389

## Definitions
1. An (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.)
2. An (often impoverished) area of a city inhabited predominantly by members of a specific nationality, ethnicity, or race.
3. An area in which people who are distinguished by sharing something other than ethnicity concentrate or are concentrated.
4. An isolated, self-contained, segregated subsection, area or field of interest; often of minority or specialist interest.

## Etymology
Borrowed from the name of the Venetian Ghetto, whose etymology and original source language is uncertain. Compare Italian ghetto.

## Easily confused with
- **grotto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ghetto-vs-grotto)
- **Guetta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ghetto-vs-guetta)
- **Ghent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ghent-vs-ghetto)

## Common misspellings (7)
`gehtto`, `gghetto`, `gheto`, `ghetot`, `ghhetto`, `ghteto`, `hgetto`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ghetto