Villian Or Villain? - WordReference Forums

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Villian or Villain?

• Thread starter Thread starter Looka
• Start date Start date Sep 27, 2006

Looka

New Member

Terni Italian What's the mean of "villian"? thanks in advance

mgarizona

Senior Member

Phoenix, AZ US - American English Some sort of pun on 'vaudevillian' perhaps? Otherwise, just a misspelling.

Looka

New Member

Terni Italian In a site that i can't relate i read that "villian" maybe can be influenced by the term "ville"...so "villian" can means "citizen". I'm italian and "villian" looks like "villano" that just means "country's inhabitant"

mgarizona

Senior Member

Phoenix, AZ US - American English The English word is 'villain' and while that is more or less its etymology it has never (that I know of) been used in English in that sense. Originally to call someone a villain was to call them 'low-born,' later it came to mean a criminal or an antagonist. M

MrPedantic

Senior Member

UK, English There is a word "villan", which you will probably only find in historical texts. It means either a "villein", or the occupier of land in the "vill", which is a division of land under the feudal system. I doubt whether that's the word in question; but it may be worth mentioning, if only to exclude it. All the best, MrP

panjandrum

Senior Member

Belfast, Ireland English-Ireland (top end)

Looka said: In a site that i can't relate i read that "villian" maybe can be influenced by the term "ville"...so "villian" can means "citizen". I'm italian and "villian" looks like "villano" that just means "country's inhabitant" Click to expand...

Please use I when you refer to yourself There is an English word, villein, which matches this description. A villein is was a serf, a peasant, someone entirely subject to the "lord". It may also be spelled villain, and villian was the norm 1,000 years ago.

Originally, a low-born base-minded rustic; a man of ignoble ideas or instincts; in later use, an unprincipled or depraved scoundrel; a man naturally disposed to base or criminal actions, or deeply involved in the commission of disgraceful crimes: a. Used as a term of opprobrious address. Click to expand...

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