Meanings
nounbidonville (plural bidonvilles)
plural bidonvilles
- A shantytown or slum, in French-speaking regions.
With the population growth in the jhopadpattis, favelas, bastis and bidonvilles higher than any other environment in the world, we are seeing the emergence of Megaslums, where one million urban poor live in an area measuring just 1.5 square miles.
2012, Sarwant Singh, New Mega Trends: Implications for Our Future Lives, page 63
Origin
- Frenchbidonville
- Englishbidonville
Unadapted borrowing from French bidonville
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
bidonville. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bidonville
MLA
“bidonville.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bidonville. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bidonville,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bidonville.
Source: bidonville on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.