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Origin and history of slum

slum(n.)

"squalid district of a city, low and dangerous neighborhood," 1845, shortened from back slum "dirty back alley of a city, street of poor or low people" (1825), originally a slang or cant word meaning "room," especially "back room" (1812), like most cant words it is of unknown origin. It also meant "nonsensical talk or writing" (1812). Related: slums. Slumscape is from 1947.

slum(v.)

"visit slums of a city," especially for diversion or amusement, often under guise of philanthropy, 1884, from slum (n.). A pastime popularized by reform movement pamphlets (e.g. "The Bitter Cry of Outcast London," 1883) and East End novels. Earlier it meant "to visit slums for disreputable purposes or in search of vice" (1860). Related: Slummer; slumming.

also from 1884

Entries linking to slum

slumlord(n.)

also slum-lord, "landlord of slum property," 1899, from earlier slum landlord (1885); see slum (n.) + landlord.

slummy(adj.)

"resembling or of the nature of a squalid district of a city," 1873, from slum (n.) + -y (2). Related: Slummily; slumminess.

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    Trends of slum

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    flophouse
    In one of [Cincinnati's] slum districts stands the Silver Moon, a "flop house" (i.e., a house where the occupants are "flopped...
    urban
    Urban renewal, euphemistic for "slum clearance," is attested from 1955, American English....
    pass
    late 13c., passen (transitive), "to go by (something)," also "to cross over," from Old French passer "to pass" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *passare "to step, walk, pass" (source also of Spanish pasar, Italian passare), from Latin passus "step, pace" (from PIE root *pete- "to spread
    shantytown
    also shanty town, "community or settlement of mean or rough dwellings," 1836, American English, from shanty (n.1) + town. A few miles from Williamsburg [Pennsylvania], there was a canal opening, and a little village of huts called Shantytown inhabited by the Irishmen who work on
    skid row
    place where vagabonds, low-lifes, and out-of-work men gather in a town, 1921, with reference to Seattle, a variant of skid road "track of skids along which logs are rolled" (1851); see skid (n.). The sense was extended to "part of town inhabited by loggers" (1906), then, in the j
    spend
    "to pay out or away, deprive oneself of" (money, wealth), Middle English spenden, from Old English -spendan (in forspendan "use up"), from Medieval Latin spendere, a shortening of Latin expendere "to weigh out money, pay down" (see expend) or possibly of dispendere "to pay out" (
    area
    1530s, "vacant piece of ground," from Latin area "level ground, open space," used of building sites, playgrounds, threshing floors, etc.; which is of uncertain origin. Perhaps an irregular derivation from arere "to become dry" (see arid), on notion of "bare space cleared by burni
    cardigan
    "close-fitting knitted woolen jacket or waistcoat," 1868, from James Thomas Brudenell (1797-1868), 7th Earl of Cardigan, English general distinguished in the Crimean War, who set the style, in one account supposedly wearing such a jacket while leading the Charge of the Light Brig
    resort
    late 14c., "that to which one has recourse for aid or assistance, source of comfort and solace," from Old French resort "resource, a help, an aid, a remedy," back-formation from resortir "to resort," literally "to go out again," from re- "again" (see re-) + sortir "go out" (see s
    apply
    late 14c., "join or combine (with); attach (to something), adhere," from Old French aploiier "apply, use, attach" (12c., Modern French appliquer), from Latin applicare "attach to, join, connect;" figuratively, "devote (oneself) to, give attention," from ad "to" (see ad-) + plicar

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