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Shelta
3 dictionary results for: Shelta
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
Shel·ta 
[shel-tuh] Pronunciation Key
[shel-tuh] Pronunciation Key –noun
| a private language, based in part on Irish, used among Travelers in the British Isles. |
[Origin: 1875–80; orig. uncert.]
]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| Shel·ta
(shěl'tə) Pronunciation Key
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.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shelta
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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