Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The often large, luxurious country house of a well-to-do person.
  • noun A country estate with a substantial house.
  • noun Chiefly British A house in a middle-class suburb.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A country-seat; a rural or suburban mansion; a country residence, properly one of some size and pretension, though the name is commonly misapplied, especially in Great Britain, to a cottage, or to one of the class of cheap houses built on speculation in the suburbs of a city; in old English law, a manor.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A country seat; a country or suburban residence of some pretensions to elegance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
  • noun UK A family house, often semi-detached, in a middle class street.
  • noun a country house, with farm buildings around a courtyard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun Mexican revolutionary leader (1877-1923)
  • noun detached or semidetached suburban house
  • noun pretentious and luxurious country residence with extensive grounds
  • noun country house in ancient Rome consisting of residential quarters and farm buildings around a courtyard

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian, from Latin vīlla; see weik- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Italian villa, from Latin villa ("country house")

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Examples

  • The word is from the Latin villa which together with via, a way, or more anciently ved andvella, Varro derives from veho, to carry, because the villa is the place to and from which things are carried.

    Walking 1969

  • The word is from the Latin villa which together with via, a way, or more anciently ved andvella, Varro derives from veho, to carry, because the villa is the place to and from which things are carried.

    Walking 1862

  • He built himself a palace, which he called a villa, and which was the most fanciful of structures, and full of every beautiful object which rare taste and boundless wealth could procure, from undoubted

    Endymion Benjamin Disraeli 1842

  • Located in Torslanda, Sweden, this country-side villa is anything but ordinary.

    Swedish Minimalism: Villa UH1 by RB Arkitektur 2009

  • This particular villa is located on the beach of Kamala in Phuket, Thailand and is currently up for sale, listed at a cost of $8.66 million.

    Contemporary Villa in Phuket, Thailand 2010

  • This villa is said to be the first of the 6 planned luxury residences in this exclusive area.

    Awesome Sculptural Home in Somosaguas : Spain 2010

  • This villa is located in the West of Sweden and comes from Wingardhs design studio.

    Rock Blending Summer House in Vestfold, Norway 2009

  • There are beautiful things here – the first account of the discovery of the skating rink in the depths of a ruined villa is unforgettable.

    The Skating Rink by Roberto Bolaño – review Philip Hensher 2010

  • The villa is located in Western Minneapolis and it was designed for a couple and their two children who will certainly not get bored of these landscapes any time soon.

    When the Western Can Met the Eastern Cup 2009

  • Located in Miami, Florida, this luxurious and intriguing villa is the former crib of Lenny Kravitz.

    The EPIC Miami Hotel and Residences 2010

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