Ghetto, Jewish Urban section serving as compulsory residential quarter for Jews. Probably first used to describe a quarter of Venice situated near a foundry (getto, or ghetto) and which in 1516 was enclosed by walls and gates and declared to be the only part of the city to be open to Jewish settlement. BTDiaspora BTPersecution of Jews NTGhettos (Holocaust) RTCommunities, Jewish RTHistory, Jewish UF Jewish ghetto