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