entry
villain
/ˈvɪlən/A wicked person or fictional antagonist
From Latin vill (Farm).
from Medieval Latin villanus "farmhand,"
+1 more sourcefrom Medieval Latin villanus "farmhand,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin villa "country house, farm" (see villa ). Properly a bondsman, the lowest class of unfree persons under the...
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Medieval Latin villanus "farmhand,"
+1 more sourcefrom Medieval Latin villanus "farmhand,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin villa "country house, farm" (see villa ). Properly a bondsman, the lowest class of unfree persons under the...
+1 more sourcePicture a medieval farm laborer tied to the soil of a Latin villa—a country estate, not a glamorous Roman vacation home. In feudal Europe, the descendants of these farm workers became Old French vilains, a word that could mean simply “peasant,” but also “churl” or “boor” when spoken by someone with a pedigree and an attitude. By about 1300, English speakers had turned vilein into an insult, and by the mid-1500s it had hardened into “scoundrel” or “person capable of gross wickedness.” The literary sense arrived much later, in 1822, when a villain became the character whose evil actions help drive a plot. The social ladder did the damage: a word meaning “person from the farm” eventually became the name for the bad guy—while villa, ville, and villein still preserve quieter echoes of the same countryside.
The Story
Picture a medieval farm laborer tied to the soil of a Latin villa—a country estate, not a glamorous Roman vacation home. In feudal Europe, the descendants of these farm workers became Old French vilains, a word that could mean simply “peasant,” but also “churl” or “boor” when spoken by someone with a pedigree and an attitude. By about 1300, English speakers had turned vilein into an insult, and by the mid-1500s it had hardened into “scoundrel” or “person capable of gross wickedness.” The literary sense arrived much later, in 1822, when a villain became the character whose evil actions help drive a plot. The social ladder did the damage: a word meaning “person from the farm” eventually became the name for the bad guy—while villa, ville, and villein still preserve quieter echoes of the same countryside.
Modern Usage
In informal usage, someone whose motives are misunderstood; also jokingly, someone who violates a trivial social convention.
Kin & Kindred
From 'vill'·Farm, country estate; later, a person connected with one
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary