Noun

Singular villa

Plural villas

villa (plural villas)

1. A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
2. (UK) A family house, often semi-detached, in a middle class street.
3. In ancient Rome, a country house, with farm buildings around a courtyard.

A villa was originally an upper-class country house, though since its origins in Roman times the idea and function of a villa has evolved considerably. After the fall of the Republic, a villa became a small farming compound, which was increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity, sometimes donated for reconstructing as a monastery then gradually re-evolving through the Middle Ages into luxurious, upper-class country homes. In modern parlance it can refer to a specific type of detached suburban dwelling.