villa

[ vil-uh ]

/ ˈvɪl ə /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR villa ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a country residence or estate.

any imposing or pretentious residence, especially one in the country or suburbs maintained as a retreat by a wealthy person.

British. a detached or semidetached dwelling house, usually suburban.

RELATED WORDS

mansion, chateau, manor

Nearby words

Origin of villa

1605–15; (< Italian) < Latin vīlla a country house, farm, akin to vīcus village, wick³

Related formsvil·la·like, adjective

Definition for villa (2 of 2)

Villa

[ vee-uh; Spanish bee-yah ]

/ ˈvi ə; Spanish ˈbi yɑ /

noun

Fran·cis·co

[frahn-sees-kaw] /frɑnˈsis kɔ/, Doroteo ArangoPancho Villa, 1877–1923, Mexican general and revolutionist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for villa

Villa and Zapata looked on, smiling their papier mache smiles, sure they had seen something like this before.
Mexican Protesters Look to Start a New Revolution|Jason McGahan|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The faces of Villa and Zapata looked on from the opposite end of the square.
Mexican Protesters Look to Start a New Revolution|Jason McGahan|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The three were living it up at his Arcore villa outside Milan, made famous by his orgiastic Bunga-Bunga parties.
Was Putin’s Midnight Visit to Berlusconi About Bunga Bunga?|Barbie Latza Nadeau|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One can even rent out the villa here or wander down from the Arc de Triomphe and peek through the fence.
Paris’s Secret Fashion Week Haunts|Liza Foreman|July 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST

His restaurant earned a Michelin star before Villa Magna lured him away.
Rodrigo de la Calle Is Spain’s Vegetable Whisperer|Kara Cutruzzula|March 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What of the men who used to come to the villa and play cards with Uncle George, the men who went away and never came back?
The Carpet from Bagdad|Harold MacGrath
Then he went over one evening to her father's villa, "where we are to have some plays as we used to do," said Guido.
The Galaxy, May, 1877|Various
At the gate of the villa they alighted and walked up the majestic avenues.
The Law Inevitable|Louis Couperus
A few years later, Mr. Selby left the villa and went to Naples, where they heard he had died.
The Parisians, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Its most patriotic inhabitant could not claim loveliness for Villa del Cerro.
Uruguay|W. H. Koebel

British Dictionary definitions for villa (1 of 2)

villa

/ (ˈvɪlə) /

noun

(in ancient Rome) a country house, usually consisting of farm buildings and residential quarters around a courtyard

a large and usually luxurious country residence

British a detached or semidetached suburban house

NZ a medium-sized suburban house standing in its own grounds

Derived Formsvilla-like, adjective

Word Origin for villa

C17: via Italian from Latin; related to Latin vīcus a village

British Dictionary definitions for villa (2 of 2)

Villa

/ (ˈviːə, Spanish ˈbiʎa) /

noun

Francisco (franˈsisko), called Pancho Villa, original name Doroteo Arango. ?1877–1923, Mexican revolutionary leader

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for villa

villa

1610s, from Italian villa "country house, villa, farm," from Latin villa "country house, farm," related to vicus "village, group of houses," from PIE *weik- "clan" (cf. Sanskrit vesah "house," vit "dwelling, house, settlement;" Avestan vis "house, village, clan;" Old Persian vitham "house, royal house;" Greek oikos "house;" Old Church Slavonic visi "village;" Gothic weihs "village;" Lithuanian viešpats "master of the house").