favela
[fuh-vel-uh; Portuguese fah-ve-lah]
- a shantytown in or near a city, especially in Brazil; slum area.
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Origin of favela
1945–50; < Brazilian Portuguese: alleged to be a name given to a hill in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, where such towns were built circa 1900; literally, a shrub of the family Euphorbiaceae, derivative of Portuguese fava bean < Latin faba
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for favela
Contemporary Examples
I interviewed Lilian, a single mother living in a Rio de Janeiro favela.
Historical Examples
The high school kids who broke it were Brazilian Linux hackers who lived in a favela -- a kind of squatter's slum.
Little BrotherCory Doctorow
favela
- (in Brazil) a shanty or shantytown
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Word Origin
C20: from Portuguese
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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