Standard Lemma guide

villancico

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˌviːjanˈsiːkəʊ/
  • UK: /ˌviːjanˈθiːkəʊ/
  • US: /ˌviljənˈsikoʊ/
  • US: /ˌviljənˈθikoʊ/
  • rhymes with -iːkəʊ

1

noun

Meaning 1

A traditional Spanish (or Portuguese) folk song with short stanzas and a refrain; now especially common as a Christmas carol.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: communications, entertainment, journalism, lifestyle, literature, media, music, poetry, publishing, writing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Spanish villancico, from villano (“peasant”), from Medieval Latin vīllānus (“villager”).

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Basque: gabon-kanta — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Catalan: villancet — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Chinese Mandarin: 聖誕頌歌 /圣诞颂歌 (Shèngdàn sònggē) — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Galician: vilancico — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Italian: villancico — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Japanese: ビリャンシーコ (biryanshīko) — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Korean: 비얀시코 (biyansiko) — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Portuguese: vilancico — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Portuguese: vilhancico — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Portuguese: vilancete — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Russian: вильянси́ко (vilʹjansíko) — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Serbo-Croatian: виљансико — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Serbo-Croatian: villancico — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
  • Spanish: villancico — traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song