WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Vil"lain
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OE. vilein, F. vilain, LL. villanus, from villa a village, L. villa a farm. See Villa.]
Definition : 1. (Feudal Law)

Defn: One who holds lands by a base, or servile, tenure, or in villenage; a feudal tenant of the lowest class, a bondman or servant. [In this sense written also villan, and villein.] If any of my ansectors was a tenant, and a servant, and held his lands as a villain to his lord, his posterity also must do so, though accidentally they become noble. Jer. Taylor.

Note: Villains were of two sorts; villains regardant, that is, annexed to the manor (LL. adscripti gleb?); and villains in gross, that is, annexed to the person of their lord, and transferable from one to another. Blackstone.

2. A baseborn or clownish person; a boor. [R.] Pour the blood of the villain in one basin, and the blood of the gentleman in another, what difference shall there be proved Becon.

3. A vile, wicked person; a man extremely depraved, and capable or guilty of great crimes; a deliberate scoundrel; a knave; a rascal; a scamp. Like a villain with a smiling cheek. Shak. Calm, thinking villains, whom no faith could fix. Pope.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Vil"lain
Part of Speech : a.
Etymology : [F. vilain.]
Definition : Defn: Villainous. [R.] Shak.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Vil"lain
Part of Speech : v.
Definition : Defn: To debase; to degrade. [Obs.] Sir T. More.

t.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913