vila

plural vilas · plural vile · alternative veela

1. Slavic mythologyA type of female nature spirit in Slavic mythology, similar in some ways to a fairy or nymph.

   She is answered, fittingly enough, by a vila, who declares that she is more beautiful than the girl.

   1995, Albert Bates Lord, The Singer Resumes the Tale, page 52

   2 more examples

   "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."

   1874, Elodie Lawton Mijatovic, Serbian Folklore

   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.

   1998, Mike Dixon-Kennedy, Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend, page 302

1. informalThe capital and largest city of Vanuatu; in full, Port Vila.

   When it became obvious that Vila would be the capital of the New Hebrides, Dr H. Bolton from Edinburgh was appointed to the mission and, in 1911, Paton Memorial Hospital was built.

   2006, Ted Freeman, Doctor in Vanuatu, Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, →ISBN, page 27

plural Vilas

1. A surname.