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Shelta

 - 3 dictionary results

Shel⋅ta

  [shel-tuh]
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–noun
a private language, based in part on Irish, used among Travelers in the British Isles.
Origin:
1875–80; orig. uncert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Shel·ta   (shěl'tə)   
n.  A secret jargon used by traditionally itinerant people in Great Britain and Ireland, based on systematic inversion or alteration of the initial consonants of Gaelic words. Also called Cant, Gammon.

[From Shelta Sheldrū, perhaps alteration of Irish Gaelic béarla, language, English, from Old Irish bélrae, language, from bél, mouth.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

shelta 
secret language of Ir. tinkers, 1876, of unknown origin. It mostly consists of Ir. or Gael. words, with inversion or arbitrary substitution of initial consonants.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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