VILLAINS

Noun

villains

plural of villain

Anagrams

• Villanis

Source: Wiktionary

VILLAIN

Vil"lain, n. Etym: [OE. vilein, F. vilain, LL. villanus, from villa a village, L. villa a farm. See Villa.]

1. (Feudal Law)

Definition: 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 glebæ); 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.

Vil"lain, a. Etym: [F. vilain.]

Definition: Villainous. [R.] Shak.

Vil"lain, v. t.

Definition: To debase; to degrade. [Obs.] Sir T. More.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition