Meanings
plural villancicos
- communicationsA traditional Spanish (or Portuguese) folk song with short stanzas and a refrain; now especially common as a Christmas carol.
1 more example
The villancicos are strophic, but they tend not to extend to the many strophes of narration that were typical of the romance. A standard form for a villancico strophe is ABBA, in which the first A is called the estribillo (refrain), the Bs represent the statement of the music for the copla (stanza) twice (as copla and mudanza), and the return of the estribillo as the vuelta.
2014, James Haar, editor, European Music, 1520–1640, Boydell & Brewer, →ISBN, page 447
Origin
- Medieval Latinvīllānus“villager”
- Spanishvillancico
- Englishvillancico
From Spanish villancico, from villano (“peasant”), from Medieval Latin vīllānus (“villager”).
More words from Spanish, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque gabon-kanta
- gabon-kantatraditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Catalan villancet
- villancettraditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Chinese Mandarin 聖誕頌歌 /圣诞颂歌
- 聖誕頌歌 /圣诞颂歌 (Shèngdàn sònggē)traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Italian villancico
- villancicotraditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Japanese ビリャンシーコ
- ビリャンシーコ (biryanshīko)traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Korean 비얀시코
- 비얀시코 (biyansiko)traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Portuguese vilancico, vilhancico
- vilancicotraditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
- vilhancicotraditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
- vilancetetraditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Russian вильянси́ко
- вильянси́ко (vilʹjansíko)traditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Spanish villancico
- villancicotraditional Spanish or Portuguese folk song
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with villancico
All rhymes →Cite this entry
villancico. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/villancico
“villancico.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/villancico. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “villancico,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/villancico.
Source: villancico on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.