gentrification

The word 'gentrification' is a modern English coinage, first used in the 1960s by sociologist Ruth Glass. It is constructed from the English word 'gentry', which historically denoted people of high birth or social standing, combined with the Latin-derived suffix '-fication', meaning 'the process of making'. The term literally means 'the process of making (an area) like the gentry' or 'the process of becoming gentrified'. It encapsulates the socio-economic transformation where a working-class or derelict urban neighborhood is renovated and inhabited by wealthier individuals, thereby changing its character and cost, a process metaphorically akin to being remade in the image of a higher social class.

Structure: gentri (gentry) + fic (make) + ation (action/process) gentri: From English 'gentry', referring to people of good social position. Origin: Old French 'genterie', from Latin 'gentilis' (of the same clan or family). fic: A combining form from Latin '-ficus' (making, causing), from the verb 'facere' (to make, to do). ation: A noun-forming suffix from Latin '-atio', indicating an action or process.