gentrify

English

Etymology

From gentry +‎ -fy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.tɹɪ.faɪ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Verb

gentrify (third-person singular simple present gentrifies, present participle gentrifying, simple past and past participle gentrified)

1. (transitive) To renovate or improve something, especially housing or district, to make it more appealing to the middle classes (now often with the negative association of pricing out existing residents).
   • 1986 February 1, Kim Westheimer, “Board Hears Testimony on Saints' Liquor License”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 28, page 3:

     Club neighbor Joe Gegis told the board that he was concerned about the licenses due to the problem of drunk drivers and that he believed the bar would lower property values, which have been rising in the area as it becomes increasingly gentrified.

Derived terms

• gentrifier
• gentrification

Translations

to renovate something, especially housing to make more appealing to the middle classes

• Catalan: gentrificar (ca)
• Danish: gentrificere
• Finnish: keskiluokkaistaa
• French: embourgeoiser (fr)
• German: gentrifizieren (de)
• Hungarian: dzsentrifikál
• Italian: gentrificare
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gentrifisere

• Portuguese: gentrificar (pt)
• Spanish: gentrificar (es)
• Swedish: gentrifiera (sv)