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favela

[ fuh-vel-uh; Portuguese fah-ve-lah ]
/ fəˈvɛl ə; Portuguese fɑˈvɛ lɑ /
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use favela in a sentence

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
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