villain

Etymology

From Middle English vilein, vilain,^[1][2] borrowed from Old French vilein (“peasant, farmer, commoner”),^[3][4] from Medieval Latin villānus (“farmhand”),^[4][2] from Latin villa (“country house, farm”).^[4][1]

First used c. 1300 as an insult, “base or low-born rustic”; the sense “feudal serf” is recorded by the late 14th century, “scoundrel” by the mid-16th century,^[4] and “wicked character in a novel or play” from 1822.^[4] Doublet of villein.^[5][3]

References

1. [1] [2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Boston: Houghton Mifflin
2. [1] [2] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. [1] [2] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org