Standard Lemma guide

villanelle

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

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  • /vɪləˈnɛl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛl

1

noun

Meaning 1

A type of poem, consisting of five tercets and one quatrain, with only two rhymes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From the French villanelle, from Italian villanella, from villano (“peasant”), from Latin vīllānus (“farmhand”), from vīlla (“estate”). The origin references the pastoral themes originally associated with this form.