Abstract
Jewish quarters have often been indiscriminately designated as 'ghettos' without any definition of what actually constitutes a 'ghetto'. I propose to establish a definition of the medieval and early modern ghetto as a compulsory segregated and enclosed Jewish quarter, on the basis of three decisive characteristics of the institution initially referred to by that name which came into being in Venice in 1516. Subsequently I demonstrate that most pre-emancipation Jewish quarters outside the Italian peninsula were not really ghettos, and that the loose use of the word ghetto has created much confusion with regard to understanding the nature of Jewish quarters.