Villain
Villain , noun
[Old English vilein, French vilain, Late Latin villanus, from villa a village, Latin villa a farm. See Villa.]
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.
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.
Villains were of two sorts; villains regardant, that is, annexed to the manor (Late Latin adscripti glebae); 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. [Rare]
Pour the blood of the villain in one basin, and the blood of the gentleman in another, what difference shall there be proved?
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.
Calm, thinking villains, whom no faith could fix.
Villain , adjective
[French vilain.]
Villainous. [Rare] — Shakespeare
Villain , transitive verb
To debase; to degrade. [Obsolete] — Sir T. More