vila

• (dated) veela

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian víla and Slovene vila.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈviːlə/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

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.

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

From Latin vīlla.

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

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

• vilatà

• “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

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɪla]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪla

vila f (relational adjective vilový, diminutive vilka)

1. villa

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

vila

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

• “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

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

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

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

• 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

From Latin vīlla (“country house”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈβi.l̪a/

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.

• vilão

• Galician: vila
• Portuguese: vila

• vilan

From Latin villānus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈvila/

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)

• villa (pre-standardization spelling)

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

• Rhymes: -ilɐ
• Hyphenation: vi‧la

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]‎^[1], 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

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

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

vila f (plural vilas)

1. (Sutsilvan) needle

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”).

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

víla f (Cyrillic spelling ви́ла)

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

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

• “vila”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Borrowed from Latin villa.

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

vȉla f (Cyrillic spelling ви̏ла)

1. villa

• “vila”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

vila (Cyrillic spelling вила)

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

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

From Proto-Slavic *vila.

• IPA^(key): /ʋíːla/

vȋla f

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

Borrowed from Latin villa.

vȋla f

1. villa

• “vila”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “vila”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

• hvila (obsolete since 1906)

• Audio:

  (file)

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

vila c

1. rest; relief from work, activity or exertion

   koppla av och få lite vila

   relax and get some rest

2. a rest; the repose afforded by death
3. (physics) rest; absence of motion

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

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

   lägga sig ner och vila

   lie down and rest

   vila upp sig

   get rested up

   (literally, “rest oneself up [idiomatic]”)

3. to rest; to lean or lay
4. to rest; to lie or lean or be supported

   Huset vilar på grunden

   The house rests on the foundation

5. (figuratively) to rest (be supported, etc., abstractly)

   vila på ett antagande

   rest on an assumption

   vila på skakig grund

   rest on a shaky foundation

   vila på vetenskaplig grund

   rest on a scientific foundation

   Det tycks vila en förbannelse över laget

   The team seems to be cursed / There seems to be a curse hanging over the team [figuratively, but could also mean literally]

   (literally, “There seems to rest a curse over the team [idiomatic]”)

   • 1932, Evert Taube, “Calle Schewens vals [Calle Schewen's Waltz]”‎^[2]:

     Då vilar min blommande ö vid din barm, du dunkelblå, vindstilla fjärd. Och julinattsskymningen smyger sig varm till sovande buskar och träd. Min älva, du dansar så lyssnande tyst och tänker att karlar är troll. Den skälver, din barnsliga hand som jag kysst, och valsen förklingar i moll.

     Then my blossoming island rests [then rests my blossoming island] on your bosom, you dark blue, still ["windstill," currently windless] archipelago / bay. And the dusk of the July night sneaks, warm, to sleeping bushes and trees. My fairy [or "elf," but with different connotations], you dance so quietly, listening ["listeningly quiet"], and think to yourself [to avoid the ambiguity of just "think" here in English] that men are trolls. It trembles, your childish hand that I have kissed, and the waltz fades away in minor [key].

   • 1991, Eva Dahlgren, “Vem tänder stjärnorna? [Who lights the stars?]”, in En blekt blondins hjärta [The Heart of a Bleached Blonde]‎^[3]:

     Det var evighetssekunder. Tre korta andetag. Hela livet vände. Vem valde? Inte jag. Jag hörde ord från mina läppar som aldrig vilat i min mun. Tankar aldrig tänkta, som nya väggar i ett rum.

     It was seconds of eternity. Three short breaths. My whole life ["the whole life" – Swedish often prefers to express possession by putting a noun in the definite instead of with a separate possessive pronoun] turned around. Who chose? Not me. I heard words from my lips that had [implied from supine] never rested in my mouth. Thoughts never thought, like new walls in a room.

6. (cooking) to rest; to allow (food, typically meat or dough) to sit (often at room temperature) without further handling or application of heat

   Efter du tagit det färdiga köttet ur ugnen, låt det vila i 10 minuter innan du skär upp det.

   After you've taken the cooked meat out of the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing it.

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

vila

1. to boil

From Latin villa; compare Italian villa.

vila f (plural vile)

1. house (large), mansion