What does "villain" mean?
Villain: 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.
Additional senses
- 2.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.
- 3.Villainous. [R.] Shak.
- 4.To debase; to degrade. [Obs.] Sir T. More.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00