villa
[vil-uh]
- 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.
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Origin of villa
Villa
[vee-uh; Spanish bee-yah]
- Fran·cis·co [frahn-sees-kaw] /frɑnˈsis kɔ/, Doroteo ArangoPancho Villa, 1877–1923, Mexican general and revolutionist.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for villa
Contemporary Examples
Villa and Zapata looked on, smiling their papier mache smiles, sure they had seen something like this before.
The faces of Villa and Zapata looked on from the opposite end of the square.
The three were living it up at his Arcore villa outside Milan, made famous by his orgiastic Bunga-Bunga parties.
One can even rent out the villa here or wander down from the Arc de Triomphe and peek through the fence.
His restaurant earned a Michelin star before Villa Magna lured him away.
Historical Examples
The prince was residing at his "Garten," (villa) two miles out of town.
This led me to request a sight of that villa—a crown to the housekeeper got me admittance.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
The owner of the villa was a rich Syrian with a French-American wife.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
She was a new young lady, who had been with Madame at her Villa—I have not seen her.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
The Villa of Galileo, the nameless composition with stone pines, 43.
Modern Painters Volume I (of V)John Ruskin
villa
- (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
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Word Origin
C17: via Italian from Latin; related to Latin vīcus a village
Villa
- Francisco (franˈsisko), called Pancho Villa, original name Doroteo Arango. ?1877–1923, Mexican revolutionary leader
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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
n.
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").
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper