vila

See also: Vila, vilã, víla, vilà, viľă, and vilă

English

WOTD – 28 April 2011

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Slavic fairies

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• (dated) veela

Etymology

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian víla and Slovene vila.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈviːlə/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

vila (plural vilas or vile)

1. (Slavic mythology) A type of female nature spirit in Slavic mythology, similar in some ways to a fairy or nymph.
   • 1874, Elodie Lawton Mijatovic, Serbian Folklore:

     "The Vilas (fairies) live there, and they will certainly put out your eyes as they have put out mine, if you venture on their mountain."

   • 1995, Albert Bates Lord, The Singer Resumes the Tale, page 52:

     She is answered, fittingly enough, by a vila, who declares that she is more beautiful than the girl.

   • 1998, Mike Dixon-Kennedy, Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend, page 302:

     Duly married, the couple lived for some time in peace and contentment, until one day Marko boasted that his wife was a vila, whereupon she put on her wings and flew away.

Translations

type of fairy

Finnish: haltijatar (fi), keiju (fi) Italian: vila f, villi f pl, vile (it) f pl Russian: вила (ru) f (vila), самовила f (samovila)

Anagrams

• LAIV, VALI, Vail, Vali, Vial, vail, vali, vial

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vīlla.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈbi.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈvi.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈvi.la]

Noun

vila f (plural viles)

1. settlement, usually with a minimum of five thousand inhabitants (bigger than a town but smaller than a city), that has asked for the title officially. Previously, this title was granted by the king

Derived terms

• vilatà

Further reading

• “vila” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɪla]
• Rhymes: -ɪla

Etymology 1

Noun

vila f (relational adjective vilový, diminutive vilka)

1. villa

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	vila	vily
genitive	vily	vil
dative	vile	vilám
accusative	vilu	vily
vocative	vilo	vily
locative	vile	vilách
instrumental	vilou	vilami

Declension of vila (hard feminine)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

vila

1. inflection of vít:
   1. feminine singular past active participle
   2. neuter plural past active participle

Further reading

• “vila”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “vila”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Galician

A vila de Baiona ("the town of Baiona")

Baralla, Lugo, a vila or little town

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese vila (“village”), from Latin villa (“country house”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbila/ [ˈbi.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ila
• Hyphenation: vi‧la

Noun

vila f (plural vilas)

1. town; urban settlement smaller than a cidade (“city”) and larger than a aldea (“village”), which usually acts as the economic and administrative capital of a comarca
2. (archaic) village

   Synonym: aldea

3. country house

   Synonym: casa de campo

Derived terms

• Cima de Vila
• Davila
• Vila
• Vila Grande
• Vila Pequena
• Vilaboa
• Vilachá
• Vilachán
• Vilacova
• Viladónega
• Viladonga
• Vilaescura
• Vilafranca
• Vilafría
• Vilalba
• Vilalonga
• Vilamaior
• Vilameá
• Vilameán
• vilán
• Vilanfesta
• Vilanova
• Vilapouca
• Vilarreal
• Vilaseca
• Vilaseco
• Vilasoa
• Vilasusá
• Vilasuso
• Vilavella
• Vilaverde
• vilego
• Vilela
• Vilerma
• Vilouchada

Related terms

• vilar

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “vila”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “vila”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “vila”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “vila”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “vila”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vīlla (“country house”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈβi.l̪a/

Noun

vila f (plural vilas)

1. village; a small town
   • a. 1284, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 159 (facsimile):

     Como ſanta maria fez deſcobrir hũa poſta de carne que furtaran a uũs romeus na uila de Rocamador.

     How Holy Mary caused to be found a piece of meat which was stolen from some pilgrims in the village of Rocamadour.

Related terms

• vilão

Descendants

• Galician: vila
• Portuguese: vila

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

• vilan

Etymology

From Latin villānus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvila/

Noun

vila m (oblique plural vilas, nominative singular vilas, nominative plural vila)

1. serf, countryman, peasant
   • c. 1130, Marcabru, pastorela:

     Cerca fols la folatura, / Cortes cortez’ aventura, / E·l vilas ab la vilana [...].
     The fool searches for folly, the gentleman for gentle adventure, and the peasant for his peasant-girl.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Portuguese

Portuguese Wikipedia has an article on:

vila

Wikipedia ^pt

Alternative forms

• villa (pre-standardization spelling)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese vila (“village”), from Latin villa (“country house”).^[1][2] Cognate with Galician vila, Spanish and Italian villa, and French ville.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.lɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.lɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.la/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.lɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.lɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.lɐ/

• Rhymes: -ilɐ
• Hyphenation: vi‧la

Noun

vila f (plural vilas)

1. town

   Coordinate terms: aldeia, cidade

   • 1880, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, “O annel do diplomata [The diplomat’s ring]”, in Contos e phantasias [Short stories and fantasies]‎, 2nd edition, Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, published 1905, page 80:

     Assim fallavam alguns indivíduos pertencentes a diversas cathegorias da pequena sociedade da villa de X∗∗∗ […]

     Thus spoke some individuals belonging to various classes of the small society of the town of X∗∗∗ […]

2. country house

   Synonym: casa de campo

3. (Brazil, colloquial) a low-class residential area, like row houses, but in a self-managed community around a cul-de-sac

References

1. “vila”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
2. “vila”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Romansch

Alternative forms

• guglia (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran)
• guila (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan)
• aguoglia (Puter, Vallader)
• guoglia (Vallader)

Etymology

From Late Latin acūcula, diminutive of Latin acus (“needle”).

Noun

vila f (plural vilas)

1. (Sutsilvan) needle

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *vila. Cognate with Bulgarian самовила (samovila) and вила (vila, “fairy”), Slovene vila (“fairy living in the forest or in the water”), Old Russian вила (vila) and Slovak víla (“fairy”). According to Vasmer, non-Slavic cognates include Old Norse veiðr (“hunt”) and Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬈𐬌𐬙𐬌 (vaiieⁱti, “he pursuits, frightens”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋǐːla/
• Hyphenation: vi‧la

Noun

víla f (Cyrillic spelling ви́ла)

1. vila (a type of female nature spirit in Slavic mythology)
2. fairy

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	vila	vile
genitive	vile	vila
dative	vili	vilama
accusative	vilu	vile
vocative	vilo	vile
locative	vili	vilama
instrumental	vilom	vilama

Declension of vila

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “good fairy”): zla vještica

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin villa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋîla/
• Hyphenation: vi‧la

Noun

vȉla f (Cyrillic spelling ви̏ла)

1. villa

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	vȉla	vile
genitive	vile	vȋlā
dative	vili	vilama
accusative	vilu	vile
vocative	vilo	vile
locative	vili	vilama
instrumental	vilom	vilama

Declension of vila

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

vila (Cyrillic spelling вила)

1. inflection of viti:
   1. feminine singular active past participle
   2. neuter plural active past participle

References

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “вила”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress

Slovene

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *vila.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋíːla/

Noun

vȋla f

1. vila (a type of female nature spirit in Slavic mythology)
2. fairy

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin villa.

Noun

vȋla f

1. villa

Further reading

• “vila”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

Swedish

Alternative forms

• hvila (obsolete since 1906)

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hvíld (“rest, pause”), compare Danish hvile (“rest”), Old High German wīla (German Weile), Gothic 𐍈𐌴𐌹𐌻𐌰 (ƕeila, “interval, time period”), English while.

Noun

vila c

1. a rest; relief from work, activity or exertion
2. a rest; the repose afforded by death
3. (physics) a rest; absence of motion

Declension

Declension of vila

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	vila	vilas
	definite	vilan	vilans
plural	indefinite	vilor	vilors
	definite	vilorna	vilornas

Related terms

• pausvila
• sista vilan
• vilorum

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish hvīla, from Old Norse hvíla, from Proto-Germanic *hwīlaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁-.

Verb

vila (present vilar, preterite vilade, supine vilat, imperative vila)

1. to rest; to relieve, to give rest to
2. to rest; to take a break; to cease working for a little while, to become inactive
3. to rest; to lean or lay
4. to rest; to lie or lean or be supported

Conjugation

Conjugation of vila (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	vila		vilas
supine	vilat		vilats
imperative	vila		—
imper. plural1	vilen		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	vilar	vilade	vilas	vilades
ind. plural1	vila	vilade	vilas	vilades
subjunctive2	vile	vilade	viles	vilades
present participle		vilande
past participle		vilad

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Derived terms

• utvilad
• vila sina ögon på
• vila ut
• vilsam

References

• vila in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• vila in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• vila in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Tsonga

Verb

vila

1. to boil

Venetan

Etymology

From Latin villa; compare Italian villa.

Noun

Venetan Wikipedia has an article on:

vila

Wikipedia ^vec

vila f (plural vile)

1. house (large), mansion