- plural of villanella.
villanelle
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of villanelle
1580–90; < French < Italian; see villanella, -elle
Explanation
A villanelle is a 19-line poem with a fixed form, including two repeated rhymes and two refrains. If you memorize a villanelle and recite it in class, your English teacher will be very impressed! The villanelle got its start as a poetic ballad influenced by a rustic Italian song called a villanella. Though the form has evolved, it still includes song-like refrains, giving the poem a musical sound. A villanelle has five stanzas of tercets, or three lines, and one quatrain (four lines). One of the most well-known villanelles in English is Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night."
Vocabulary lists containing villanelle
Literary Terms, Part I
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The Bell Jar
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Form & Symbolism and Allusion
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jodie Comer knows people recognize her as Villanelle, the psychopathic assassin she played on “Killing Eve” for four seasons.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 2024
It was a remarkable win for the 30-year-old English actress, who is best known for playing the assassin Villanelle on the television show “Killing Eve.”
From New York Times • Jun. 11, 2023
Comer won a Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Russian assassin Villanelle in "Killing Eve" and has since gone on to star in films like "Free Guy" and "The Last Duel".
From Reuters • Jun. 9, 2022
There’s balletic and interpretive precision in Comer’s embodiment of Tessa, a courtroom killer of far different intent than her nonpareil television hit woman, Villanelle.
From Washington Post • May 17, 2022
Villanelle, a French verse form of nineteen lines on three rimes, certain lines being repeated at fixed intervals, 163 f.
From The Principles of English Versification by Baum, Paull Franklin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
