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bidonville

[ French bee-dawn-veel ]

noun

, plural bi·don·villes [bee-daw, n, -, veel].
  1. (especially in France and North Africa) an impoverished shantytown on the outskirts of a city.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of bidonville1

First recorded in 1950–55; from French, equivalent to bidon “metal drum, can (for oil, etc.)” (earlier, “five-pint wooden jug”; of uncertain origin) + -ville, combining form, in placenames, of ville “city,” from Latin vīlla villa; metal cans are often used as building materials in such towns

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