voilà
See also: voila and voilá
English
Alternative forms
- voila
- wallah (misspelling)
Etymology
Borrowed from French voilà.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /vwæˈlɑː/, /vwɑːˈlɑː/, /vwʌˈlɑː/[1]
- (US) IPA(key): /(v)wɑˈlɑ/[1]
Audio (US) (file)
Interjection
voilà
- Lo, there it is; see here; ta-da; presto; behold!
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:lo
Translations
behold!
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References
- Wells, John C. (2008) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd edition, Longman, →ISBN
Anagrams
- Ivalo, Viola, oliva, viola, volia
French
Etymology
Literally, “look there”. From vois (“see!, look!”), second-person singular imperative of voir (“to see, to look”) and là (“there”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vwa.la/
Audio (file) - Homophones: voila, voilât
Verb
voilà (defective)
- there (it) is
- 1953, Samuel Beckett, En attendant Godot
- Voilà l’homme tout entier, s’en prenant à sa chaussure alors que c’est son pied le coupable.
- There is man in his entirety, blaming his shoe when his foot is guilty.
- 1953, Samuel Beckett, En attendant Godot
- here (it) is
- Voilà le fromage.
- Here's the cheese.
- Voilà ce qu'on va faire ensuite.
- Here's what we are going to do next.
- that is
- Voilà ce que je lui ai demandé, et voici sa réponse : « ... »
- That's what I asked her and this is her answer: "..."
Usage notes
- voilà is a defective verb. Its only conjugation is in the present indicative tense, even though it can appear in phrases that imply another tense.
- It is mainly used to introduce a slightly distant person or object, in contrast to voici which is used to designate a person or object near the speaker.
- In face-to-face conversations where both participants can see the subject of the conversation, voilà often supersedes voici (thus its additional definition: Here is).
Derived terms
- en veux-tu en voilà
- et voilà le travail
- voilà qui est fait
- voilà tout
See also
- revoilà
- voici
Further reading
- “voilà”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- lovai, viola, volai
Italian
Interjection
voilà
- voilà
Anagrams
- Viola, oliva, ovali, viola, volai
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French voilà.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vwaˈla/
- Rhymes: -ala
- Syllabification: voi‧là
Interjection
voilà
- behold, voilà, woe!
Further reading
- voilà in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- voilà in Polish dictionaries at PWN