*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of -ville

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ-der. Proto-Italic *weikslā Latin vīllader. Old French ville Middle French ville French villebor. English -ville Borrowed from French ville (“town, city”).

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
suffix

Used to form a name of an inhabited place, a town or city. · Used with an adjective, noun, or gerund as a mildly intensifying locative, indicating a region or state of that kind.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ-der. Proto-Italic *weikslā Latin vīllader. Old French ville Middle French ville French villebor. English -ville Borrowed from French ville (“town, city”).

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "fr:ville<t:town, city>",
        "tree": "1",
        "text": "+"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *weyḱ-der.\nProto-Italic *weikslā\nLatin vīllader.\nOld French ville\nMiddle French ville\nFrench villebor.\nEnglish -ville\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"town, city\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"enter\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*weyḱ-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*weikslā\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"vīlla\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"ville\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle French\", \"term\" : \"ville\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"frm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"French\", \"term\" : \"ville\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"fr\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-ville\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"-ville\">\nBorrowed from French ville (“town, city”)."
    },
    {
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "fr:ville<t:town, city>",
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      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *weyḱ-der.\nProto-Italic *weikslā\nLatin vīllader.\nOld French ville\nMiddle French ville\nFrench villebor.\nEnglish -ville\nBorrowed from French ville (“town, city”)."
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*weyḱ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/weyḱ-#Proto-Indo-European:_enter"
    ],
    [
      "*weikslā",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/weikslā"
    ],
    [
      "vīlla",
      "villa#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ville",
      "ville#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "ville",
      "ville#Middle_French"
    ],
    [
      "ville",
      "ville#French"
    ],
    [
      "ville",
      "ville#French"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "suffix",
      "glosses": [
        "Used to form a name of an inhabited place, a town or city.",
        "Used with an adjective, noun, or gerund as a mildly intensifying locative, indicating a region or state of that kind."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme",
        "figuratively"
      ],
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      "rawRecordSha256": "dae562cd521713fb08cd8d3ff4dcfb0f50a1a200f2b3f26419c45121c3d5b29e",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 1510369
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for -ville →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-LXZpbGxl