Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One of a class of feudal serfs who held the legal status of freemen in their dealings with all people except their lord.
from The Century Dictionary.
- See
villain .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Feudal Law) See
villain , 1.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun historical A
feudal tenant .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (Middle Ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The investigation of Paul Vinogradoff and others have conclusively established that there was not a real difference in status between the so-called villein regardant and villein in gross, and that in any case the villein was not properly a slave but rather a serf. [
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Vinogradoff and others have conclusively established that there was not a real difference in status between the so-called villein regardant and villein in gross, and that in any case the villein was not properly a slave but rather a serf. [
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"villein" was real property and in the same case as land: also that when Parliament came to legislate so as to make lands in the American
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Could she truly be so shallow as to be drawn to a weak-minded, contemptible villein better suited to walk behind an ox plowing fields than dare to lift his eyes to a queen?
Secret History of Elizabeth Tudor, Vampire Slayer Lucy Weston 2011
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Could she truly be so shallow as to be drawn to a weak-minded, contemptible villein better suited to walk behind an ox plowing fields than dare to lift his eyes to a queen?
Secret History of Elizabeth Tudor, Vampire Slayer Lucy Weston 2011
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From magnate to baron, from workman to villein, from publicist to court agent and retainer, will be changes of state and function so slight as to elude all but the keenest eyes.
A REVIEW 2010
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The villein villages till the soil among them, and pay their communal dues together, though every man has his dwelling and his cattle and his fair share of the land.
His Disposition 2010
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I can think of three explanations for the “villein” claim in the Triads:
Cadafael, King of Gwynedd Carla 2009
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As a villein is an unfree peasant or serf, this is unlikely to be literally true.
Cadafael, King of Gwynedd Carla 2009
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I can think of three explanations for the “villein” claim in the Triads:
Archive 2009-04-01 Carla 2009
whichbe commented on the word villein
Not to be confused with a villain, of course.
December 3, 2008
knitandpurl commented on the word villein
"A solid ancient leaning on his hoe, shuffling backwards and forwards to his shed. The villein with his small corner of England."
London Orbital by Iain Sinclair, p 135 of the Penguin paperback edition
January 29, 2012