2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: In the 40s, were Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn considered "ghetto"? [View all]elleng
(134,854 posts)The word "ghetto" is an etymological mystery. Is it from the Hebrew get, or bill of divorce? From the Venetian ghèto, or foundry? From the Yiddish gehektes, "enclosed"? From Latin Giudaicetum, for "Jewish"? From the Italian borghetto, "little town"? From the Old French guect, "guard"?
In his etymology column for the Oxford University Press, Anatoly Liberman took a look at each of these possibilities. He considered ever more improbable origins Latin for "ribbon"? German for "street"? Latin for "to throw"? before declaring the word a stubborn mystery.
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/04/27/306829915/segregated-from-its-history-how-ghetto-lost-its-meaning
I thought I recalled something about 'foundry,' after visiting Venice, and located it here. Just for info.