n. [ OF. ville, vile, a village, F. ville a town, city. See Villa. ] A small collection of houses; a village. “Every manor, town, or vill.” Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not should e'er the crested fowl
From thorp or vill his matins sound for me. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ A word of various significations in English, law; as, a manor; a tithing; a town; a township; a parish; a part of a parish; a village. The original meaning of vill, in England, seems to have been derived from the Roman sense of the term villa, a single country residence or farm; a manor. Later, the term was applied only to a collection of houses more than two, and hence came to comprehend towns. Burrill. The statute of Exeter, 14 Edward I., mentions entire-vills, demivills, and hamlets. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Villas [ L. villa, LL. also village, dim. of L. vicus a village: cf. It. & F. villa. See Vicinity, and cf. Vill, Village, Villain. ] A country seat; a country or suburban residence of some pretensions to elegance. Dryden. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. L. villaticus belonging to a country house or villa. See Villa, and cf. Villatic. ] A small assemblage of houses in the country, less than a town or city. [ 1913 Webster ]

Village cart, a kind of two-wheeled pleasure carriage without a top. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Village, Hamlet, Town, City. In England, a hamlet denotes a collection of houses, too small to have a parish church. A village has a church, but no market. A town has both a market and a church or churches. A city is, in the legal sense, an incorporated borough town, which is, or has been, the place of a bishop's see. In the United States these distinctions do not hold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An inhabitant of a village. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brutus had rather be a villager
Than to repute himself a son of Rome
Under these hard condition. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Villages; a district of villages. [ Obs. ] “The maidens of the villagery.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To debase; to degrade. [ Obs. ] Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. vilein, F. vilain, LL. villanus, from villa a village, L. villa a farm. See Villa. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Feudal Law) 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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Villains were of two sorts; villains regardant, that is, annexed to the manor (LL. adscripti glebae); and villains in gross, that is, annexed to the person of their lord, and transferable from one to another. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A baseborn or clownish person; a boor. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Pour the blood of the villain in one basin, and the blood of the gentleman in another, what difference shall there be proved? Becon. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like a villain with a smiling cheek. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Calm, thinking villains, whom no faith could fix. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. vilain. ] Villainous. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Written also villanous. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Base; vile; mean; depraved; as, a villainous person or wretch. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Proceeding from, or showing, extreme depravity; suited to a villain; as, a villainous action. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Sorry; mean; mischievous; -- in a familiar sense. “A villainous trick of thine eye.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Villainous judgment (O. E. Law), a judgment that casts reproach on the guilty person. [ 1913 Webster ]

--- Vil"lain*ous*ly, adv. Vil"lain*ous*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Villainies [ OE. vilanie, OF. vilanie, vilainie, vileinie, vilanie, LL. villania. See Villain, n. ] [ Written also villany. ] 1. The quality or state of being a villain, or villainous; extreme depravity; atrocious wickedness; as, the villainy of the seducer. “Lucre of vilanye.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The commendation is not in his wit, but in his villainy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Abusive, reproachful language; discourteous speech; foul talk. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He never yet not vileinye ne said
In all his life, unto no manner wight. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

In our modern language, it [ foul language ] is termed villainy, as being proper for rustic boors, or men of coarsest education and employment. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

Villainy till a very late day expressed words foul and disgraceful to the utterer much oftener than deeds. Trench. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of a villain; a deed of deep depravity; a crime. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such villainies roused Horace into wrath. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

That execrable sum of all villainies commonly called a slave trade. John Wesley. [ 1913 Webster ]