villanelle

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villanelle

/vɪləˈnɛl/

Rhymes with -ɛl

Where it comes from

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.

noun villanelles

A type of poem, consisting of five tercets and one quatrain, with only two rhymes. By definition the villanelle is restrictive, because it demands nineteen lines on two rhymes in six stanzas, the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternately at the end of the concluding quatrain.

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MLA

"villanelle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/villanelle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

villanelle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/villanelle

Chicago

"villanelle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/villanelle.

BibTeX

@misc{villanelle_2026,
  title = {villanelle},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/villanelle},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}