township

noun TOWN-ship Rare

Origin: English loanword, used in the context of South African apartheid-era segregated settlements.

Usage Note

Township is an English loanword that entered Spanish almost exclusively through journalism and historical writing about South Africa, where it refers to the segregated urban areas created under apartheid. It is invariable in the plural. In contexts outside southern Africa, Spanish would use municipio, barrio, or distrito instead. The word is typically written in italics in formal Spanish texts to signal its foreign origin.

Examples

"Creció en un township cerca de Johannesburgo."

Natural Translation

He grew up in a township near Johannesburg.

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