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]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

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 [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Czech

Czech Wikipedia has an article on:

vila

Wikipedia ^cs

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɪla]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪla

Etymology 1

Noun

vila f (relational adjective vilový, diminutive vilka)

1. villa

Declension

Declension of vila (hard feminine)

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

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
• “vila”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Galician

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)