favela

Unadapted borrowing from Brazilian Portuguese favela.

• IPA^(key): /fəˈvɛlə/

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlə

favela (plural favelas)

2. A slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil.
   • 2008, Cedar Lewisohn, Street Art, Foreword, page 8:

     The favela is now the model for most of the world's cities, as vast numbers of people continue to migrate to them in order to survive.

   • 2012, Tim Edensor, Mark Jayne, Urban Theory Beyond the West: A World of Cities:

     security forces in November of 2010 stormed one of the city's most notorious favelas, the complex of the Morro do Alemão in the northern zone of the city

• Lafave

From Brazilian Portuguese favela.

favela f (plural favelas)

1. favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)

From Brazilian Portuguese favela.

favela f (plural favele)

1. favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)

From Brazilian Portuguese favela.

favela m (definite singular favelaen, indefinite plural favelae, definite plural favelane)

1. favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)

From Brazilian Portuguese favela.

favela m (definite singular favelaen, indefinite plural favelaer or favelaar, definite plural favelaene or favelaane)

1. favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)

The slum sense is named after the tree. The first favela was founded by veterans of the War of Canudos on Morro da Providência (Providence Hill). That hill was similar to a hill where a battle took place during the war, which had many favela trees. The name of the tree probably comes ultimately from a diminutive of Latin faba (“bean”). An alternative etymology may be favo +‎ -ela.^[1]

• Rhymes: -ɛlɐ

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fa‧ve‧la

favela f (plural favelas)

1. a tree of species Cnidoscolus quercifolius, native to northeastern Brazil

   Synonym: faveleira

2. (Brazil) slum (dilapidated neighborhood)

   Synonyms: (Angola) musseque, (Brazil) morro, (Mozambique) caniço, (Portugal) bairro de lata

• “favela”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “favela”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• favella (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader)
• faviala (Sursilvan)
• faveala (Sutsilvan)

From Latin fabella, diminutive of fābula, or from a derivative of Vulgar Latin *fabellāre.

favela f (plural favelas)

1. (Surmiran, poetic) language

Implies a strong emotional attachment. Used almost exclusively to refer to Romansch itself.

• lungatg

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese favela.

• IPA^(key): /fǎʋela/

fàvela f (Cyrillic spelling фа̀вела)

1. favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)

• “favela”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese favela.

• IPA^(key): /faʋéːla/

favẹ̑la f

1. favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)

   Nekatere šole sambe delujejo tudi v favelah. ― Some samba schools also operate in favelas.

• “favela” in Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika - portal BOS

Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese favela. Doublet of fabela.

• IPA^(key): /faˈbela/ [faˈβ̞e.la]
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: fa‧ve‧la

favela f (plural favelas)

1. favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)

• “favela”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

From Brazilian Portuguese favela.

favela (definite accusative favelayı, plural favelalar)

1. favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)