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villanelle

Syllabification: (vil·la·nelle)
Pronunciation: /ˌviləˈnel/

Definition of villanelle

noun

  • a nineteen-line poem with two rhymes throughout, consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternately at the end of the other tercets and with both repeated at the close of the concluding quatrain.

Origin:

late 19th century: from French, from Italian villanella (see villanella)

villanelle in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of villanelle in the British & World English dictionary
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