favela

[ fuh-vel-uh; Portuguese fah-ve-lah ]
/ fəˈvɛl ə; Portuguese fɑˈvɛ lɑ /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR favela ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

Words nearby favela

faux pas, faux-naïf, fauxbourdon, fava bean, fave, favela, favelado, favella, favellidium, faveolate, faveolus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to favela

ghetto, Bowery, tenderloin

Example sentences from the Web for favela

British Dictionary definitions for favela

favela
/ (fɑːˈveɪlə) /

noun

(in Brazil) a shanty or shantytown

Word Origin for favela

C20: from Portuguese
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012