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Definition: Villain |
VillainNoun1. A wicked or evil person. 2. The principle bad character in a work of fiction. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "villain" was first used: sometime around 1303. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Villain means simply one attached to a villa or farm. In feudal times the lord was the great landowner, and under him were a host of tenants called villains. The highest class of villains were called regardant, and were annexed to the manor; then came the Coliberti or Bures, who were privileged vassals; then the Bordari or cottagers (Saxon, bord, a cottage), who rendered certain menial offices to their lord for rent; then the Cosects, Cottarii, and Cotmanni, who paid partly in produce and partly in menial service; and, lastly, the villains in gross, who were annexed to the person of the lord, and might be sold or transferred as chattels. The notion of wickedness and worthlessness associated with the word is simply the effect of aristocratic pride and exclusiveness- not, as Christian says in his Notes on Blackstone, "a proof of the horror in which our forefathers held all service to feudal lords." The French vilain seems to connect the word with vile, but it is probable that vile is the Latin vilis vile (of no value), and that the noun villein, except by way of pun. (See Cheater. ) "I am no villain [base-born]; I am the youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys; he was my father, and he is thrice a villain [rascal] that says such a father begot villains [bastards]."- Shakespeare: As You Like It, i. 1. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The antagonist is the character (or group of characters) of a story who represents the opposition against which the heroes and/or protagonists must contend. In the classic style of story wherein the action consists of a hero fighting a villain, the two can be regarded as protagonist and antagonist, respectively. However, authors have often created more complex situations. In some instances, the story is told from the villain's point of view; in such a story, we must regard the hero as the chief antagonist of the story!More often, stories simply do not have characters that are readily identifiable as most heroic or villainous. Instead, the antagonist becomes that character, group, or sometimes force which provides the chief obstruction to the protagonist or "main character" of the story. Note that the antagonist is not necessarily human; often, the forces of nature or psychological elements provide this element of opposition.
The protagonist-antagonist relationship is also sometimes ambiguous. For instance, in the story of Moby Dick by Herman Melville, the antagonist may be regarded as the whale "Moby Dick" of the title, against which the story's leading character Captain Ahab strives. Yet Captan Ahab is not actually the protagonist of the story, as it is told from the point of view of the narrator Ishmael. Indeed, it is also valid to look as Captain Ahab as the antagonist, with his fanaticism the force with which protagonist Ishmael must cope.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Antagonist."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The greatest joy in doing evil is to be rewarded by the sight of those who suffer its consequence!
- --- Mephisto, in The Silver Surfer no. 3 (Marvel Comics, 1968)
A stereotypical villain, common in early 20th-century silent films.A villain is a bad person, especially in fiction. Villains are the fictional characters, or perhaps fictionalized characters, in drama and melodrama who work to thwart the plans of the hero. As such, villains are an almost inevitable plot device, and more than the heroes, the villains are the crucial elements upon which plots turn. The etymology of word is from Old French villein, in turn from Late Latin villanus; it literally means a serf or a peasant, someone who dwells in a villa, which is to say, worked on a plantation.
Usually the word villain suggests that the villain's scheme stem from their own moral indifference or perversity of character. Supervillains are found in the melodramatic environs of superhero comic books, where an evil person with super powers is needed to be a realistic foil for the mighty heroes. These supervillains usually have recurring roles; some villains in more down to earth literature have become so popular that they have been reused in later works as well.
There are many villain stereotypes. A caricature of a common cliched villain can be seen at the right of this page. In the era before sound in motion pictures villains had to appear very "visually" sinister, and thus many villain stereotypes were born. The Rocky and Bullwinkle character, Snidely Whiplash, enemy of Dudley Doright, is a well known parody of this kind of character.
These stereotypes include black clothing (often quite formal, capes, top hats, etc), facial hair, sharp features, and a perpetually "angry" facial expression. Other non-visual villainous stereotypes include a habit of "evil laughter," a snooty or smarmy voice, and a haughty overconfidence that leads to the unnecessary explanation of one's sinister plans. This exposition, of course, is a fairly transparent plot device.
Are villains inherently more interesting than the heroes who oppose them? They are at least as indispensible to the stories they appear in, probably more so. Those who stand on the side of righteousness and goodness seldom have much choice but to respond, and little choice in how; for villains, all paths are wide open. Many believe that Satan, for Christians perhaps the ultimate villain, is the most interesting character in John Milton's Paradise Lost, for all that he is the embodiment of evil. Perhaps in the nefarious acts of many villains there is more than a hint of wish-fulfilment fantasy, which makes some people identify with them as characters more strongly than they do the heroes. Still, the writer's task in creating a villain is not an easy or a trivial one; a convincing villain must be given a characterization that makes his motive for doing wrong somewhat more convincing that Mephisto's gleeful but seemingly pointless mischief.
See also: anti-hero; antagonist; stock character
Some well known villains are:
Fictional villains
- Angelo, in Measure for Measure
- Ambrosio, in The Monk
- Autolycus (Greek mythology)
- Bluebeard (folklore)
- Bluto (Popeye)
- Claudius, from Hamlet
- Moll Cutpurse (folklore)
- Count Dracula (Bram Stoker)
- Edmund, in King Lear
- Fagin (Charles Dickens)
- Fu Manchu (Sax Rohmer)
- Don Juan/Don Giovanni (folklore, Mozart)
- Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
- Grendel (Beowulf)
- Uriah Heep (Charles Dickens)
- Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson)
- Iago, in Othello
- Hannibal Lecter, in Silence of the Lambs
- Simon Legree, in Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
- Macheath (The Threepenny Opera)
- Mephistopheles (Faust folklore)
- Professor Moriarty (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
- Napoleon the pig, in Animal Farm
- Mr. Pecksniff
- Raskolnikov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
- Saruman {The Lord of the Rings)
- Sauron (J. R. R. Tolkien)
- Shylock, in The Merchant of Venice
- Long John Silver (Robert Louis Stevenson)
- Steppenwolf (Herman Hesse)
- Baron Scarpia, in Tosca
- Tartuffe (Moliere)
- Darth Vader (Star Wars)
- Valmont (Les Liaisons Dangereuses)
- Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter)
- Volpone (Samuel Johnson)
- Wringhim, in Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
Historical figures who often figure as villains in fiction
- Alcibiades
- Pope Alexander VI
- Antiochus IV Epiphanes
- Attila the Hun
- Benedict Arnold
- Billy the Kid
- Blackbeard
- Captain William Bligh
- Lizzie Borden
- Cesare Borgia
- Brutus
- William Burke
- Cain
- Caligula
- Al Capone
- Catiline
- Draco the law-giver
- Guy Fawkes
- Genghis Khan
- George IV of the United Kingdom
- Lord Haw-Haw
- Adolf Hitler
- Matthew Hopkins
- Judas Iscariot
- Ivan IV of Russia
- Judge George Jeffreys
- John of England
- Captain William Kidd
- Leopold and Loeb
- Empress Dowager Lü of the Han Empire of China
- Charles Manson
- Messalina
- Benito Mussolini
- Nero
- Richard Nixon
- Titus Oates
- Pope Pius XII
- Gilles de Rais
- Cardinal Richelieu
- Rasputin
- Richard III of England
- Jack the Ripper
- Maximilien Robespierre
- The Sheriff of Nottingham
- Dick Turpin
- Boss Tweed
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Villain."
Synonym: VillainSynonym: scoundrel (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Bad Man | Villain, rascal, scoundrel, miscreant, budmash, caitiff; wretch, reptile, viper, serpent, basilisk, urchin; tiger, monster; devil; (demon); devil incarnate; demon in human shape, Nana Sahib; hellhound, hellcat; rakehell. |
Commonalty | Peasant, countryman, boor, carle, churl; villain, villein; terrae filius; serf, kern, tyke, tike, chuff, ryot, fellah; longshoreman; swain, clown, hind; clod, clodhopper; hobnail, yokel, bog-trotter, bumpkin; plowman, plowboy; rustic, hayseed, lunkhead, chaw-bacon, tiller of the soil; hewers of wood and drawers of water, groundling; gaffer, loon, put, cub, Tony Lumpkin, looby, rube, lout, underling; gamin; rough; pot-wallopper, slubberdegullion; vulgar fellow, low fellow; cad, curmudgeon. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Villain |
| English words defined with "villain": amiable ♦ Bluebeard ♦ good-humored, good-humoured ♦ heavy, horsewhipping ♦ Iago ♦ Knave child ♦ Made up ♦ out and out ♦ Paced ♦ Scelerat ♦ villainess, Villan, Villanage. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "villain": Cavern or Cave ♦ ESTHER ♦ HOLY LAMB, HUR ♦ Land-damn ♦ Omit "to" ♦ Parolles ♦ Rashleigh Osbaldistone, Riderhood, Robert Macaire ♦ SCIMETAR ♦ Zineura. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "villain": Villanage. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Every search for a hero must begin with something which every hero requires, a villain. (Mission: Impossible II; writing credit: Bruce Geller; Ronald D. Moore) One may smile and smile and be a villain. (JFK; writing credit: Jim Marrs; Jim Garrison) Never tell the villain how to trap you in a cage (Freakazoid!; writing credit: Alan Burnett; Paul Dini) Playing the villain, baby (Girl, Interrupted; writing credit: James Mangold) Flash, don't heckle the super villain! (Justice League; writing credit: Paul Whitehouse) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Villain (1971) The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940) An Innocent Villain (1917) The Villain (1917) Villain Unhand Me (1916) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | La Convalescence. / Bellangé. Lith. Villain. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Te n'aimrai jamais, disait un conscrit a l'hopital. / Raffet Lith de Villain. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | A.I. Coffin : Docteur en Médecine / Lith. de Villain. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Vue de l'Hôtel Bullion, Rue J.J. Rousseau. / Arnout del. Bouhot pinxt. Imp. lith de Villain. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | [Plasmodium ovale] / Inez Demonet after Aline G. Villain. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Le Comte Chaptal / Lith. de Villain. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Fouquier. / Vigneron, Lith. de Villain. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | And the villain still pursued her. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The avengers of Little Myrtle Vance, and the villain brought to justice--Parade around public square. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Lagrange (northn. view) / A. Fisher, pinxt. ; Lith. de Villain ; Deroy, delt. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Bishop Beilby Porteus | One murder makes a villain, millions a hero. |
William Shakespeare | One may smile, and smile, and be a villain. |
| My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, and every tongue brings in a several tale, and every tale condemns me for a villain. | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | The injury and the crime is equal, whether committed by the wearer of a crown, or some petty villain. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Four persons have recognised him, and the old villain will be condemned |
Time Enough for Love | Robert Heinlein | Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes |
King Richard III | Shakespeare, William | My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, And every tongue brings in a several tale, And every tale condemns me for a villain. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SCIMETAR, n. A curved sword of exceeding keenness, in the conduct of which certain Orientals attain a surprising proficiency, as the incident here related will serve to show. The account is translated from the Japanese by Shusi Itama, a famous writer of the thirteenth century. When the great Gichi-Kuktai was Mikado he condemned to decapitation Jijiji Ri, a high officer of the Court. Soon after the hour appointed for performance of the rite what was his Majesty's surprise to see calmly approaching the throne the man who should have been at that time ten minutes dead! "Seventeen hundred impossible dragons!" shouted the enraged monarch. "Did I not sentence you to stand in the market-place and have your head struck off by the public executioner at three o'clock? And is it not now 3:10?" "Son of a thousand illustrious deities," answered the condemned minister, "all that you say is so true that the truth is a lie in comparison. But your heavenly Majesty's sunny and vitalizing wishes have been pestilently disregarded. With joy I ran and placed my unworthy body in the market-place. The executioner appeared with his bare scimetar, ostentatiously whirled it in air, and then, tapping me lightly upon the neck, strode away, pelted by the populace, with whom I was ever a favorite. I am come to pray for justice upon his own dishonorable and treasonous head." "To what regiment of executioners does the black-boweled caitiff belong?" asked the Mikado. "To the gallant Ninety-eight Hundred and Thirty-seventh -- I know the man. His name is Sakko-Samshi." "Let him be brought before me," said the Mikado to an attendant, and a half-hour later the culprit stood in the Presence. "Thou bastard son of a three-legged hunchback without thumbs!" roared the sovereign -- "why didst thou but lightly tap the neck that it should have been thy pleasure to sever?" "Lord of Cranes of Cherry Blooms," replied the executioner, unmoved, "command him to blow his nose with his fingers." Being commanded, Jijiji Ri laid hold of his nose and trumpeted like an elephant, all expecting to see the severed head flung violently from him. Nothing occurred: the performance prospered peacefully to the close, without incident. All eyes were now turned on the executioner, who had grown as white as the snows on the summit of Fujiama. His legs trembled and his breath came in gasps of terror. "Several kinds of spike-tailed brass lions!" he cried; "I am a ruined and disgraced swordsman! I struck the villain feebly because in flourishing the scimetar I had accidentally passed it through my own neck! Father of the Moon, I resign my office." So saying, he gasped his top-knot, lifted off his head, and advancing to the throne laid it humbly at the Mikado's feet. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Villain" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.34% of the time. "Villain" is used about 303 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.34% | 301 | 16,714 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.66% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 303 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "villain": the villain. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "villain": villain-clown, villain-hero, villain-proof. | |
Ending with "villain": arch-villain. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "villain"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | zuzar (miscreant, rapscallion, rascal), shejtan (brat, devil, elfin, impish, mischievous, monkey, puckish, scallywag, scampish, sea cock, varmint), kopuk (bad character, blackguard, cad, knave, miscreant, rapscallion, rascal, reprobate, ruffian, scamp, scapegrace, varmint), horr (cad, knave, rat, reprobate, rough neck, ruffian, scoundrel), batakçi (blackguard, blackleg, con man, fiddler, grafter, gyp, humbug, hustler, knave, leg, picaroon, rogue, scaramouch, sharper, slicker, trickster, twister). (various references) | |
Arabic | النذل (rapscallion, rascal, scamp, scoundrel), الوغد (blackguard, kite, knave, loon, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, scamp, scapegrace, scoundrel), الحقير (blackguard, rat, wretch), الساذج (dupe, gaby, goose, gull, lamb, loon, mutt, nincompoop, ninny, pigeon, simpleton, zany), الجلف (clown, impolite, slob, yokel). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | разбойник (bandolero, brigand, desperado, felon, footpad, highwayman, outlaw, pad, robber, scamp, scoundrel), негодник (dog, good for nothing, knave, no good, rotter, scapegrace, scaramouch, sorry fellow, wretch), злодей (fiend, malefactor), престъпник (criminal, culprit, delinquent, evil doer, malefactor, malfeasant, offender, wrongdoer), подлец (bastard, blackguard, caitiff, creep, dastard, hangdog, ratface, recreant, reprobate, scoundrel, skunk, sneak, sneaker, snot, twerp, wretch, yellow dog). (various references) | |
Chinese | 惡棍 , 恶棍 (thug). (various references) | |
Czech | zlosyn (baddie, miscreant), padouch, nièema (blackguard, heel, miscreant, rogue, rotter, ruffian, scoundrel, vagabond), mizera (bastard, blighter, bugger, dog, horror, rascal, rat, scamp, scoundrel, stinker), lump (bad lot, blackguard, heel, knave, louse, rascal, skunk, wretch), gauner (crook, racketeer, scoundrel), darebák (blackguard, crook, rascal, rogue, rowdy, ruffian). (various references) | |
Dutch | onvrije (serf), onvrýe (serf), lijfeigene (serf), lýfeigene (serf), horige (serf). (various references) | |
Esperanto | servutulo (serf). (various references) | |
Farsi | پست (Abacinate, Abject, Cheap, Common, Currish, Despicable, Earthborn, Humble, Infamous, Inferior, Lily, Little, Mail, Menial, Peevish, Poor, Runty, Ungenerous, Venal, Vile, Villainous, Vulgar, Wretch, Wretched), ناکس (Ignoble), تبه کار (Untoward, Wicked), شریر (Bad, Heinous, Infernal, Naughty, Nefarious, Vicious, Villainous, Viper, Wicked), دم پست , بدذات (Naughty, Villainous). (various references) | |
Finnish | vintiö (rascal), roisto (cheat, crook, knave, rascal, rogue, scoundrel), konna (scoundrel, toad), ilkimys (rascal). (various references) | |
French | vaurien, traître, scélérat (villainous), rustaud. (various references) | |
German | Schurke (a rascally fellow, baddie, blackguard, bounder, cheat, crook, desperado, knave, miscreant, rascal, rogue, scoundrel, scoundrell), Bösewicht (baddie, criminal, demon, miscreant). (various references) | |
Greek | παληάνθρωποσ (cad, varlet), φαύλοσ (corrupt, flagitious, nefarious, pervert, reprobate, scoundrelly, sinister, unrighteous, vicious, vile, villainous, wanton, wicked), ο κακός. (various references) | |
Hebrew | עויל (boy, wicked, youngster), ז" (insolent, scoundrel, wanton, wicked), בן בליעל (rascal, rogue, scoundrel, wicked), בל (bastard, black sheep, bounder, mean, rascal, scoundrel, varlet, wicked), בז" (cad, contemptible, despicable, despised, mean, mean-spirited, measly, nasty, ornery, scamp, shameful, sordid, worm, wretched). (various references) | |
Hungarian | gazember (bad hat, bad lot, bastard, blackguard, bugger, deceiver, miscreant, rascal, rogue, s.o.b., scoundrel, shabby fellow, shag, son of a gun, thief). (various references) | |
Indonesian | penjahat (bandit, criminal, delinquent, desperado, felon, gangster, scum, tough), buaya (alligator, cayman, crocodile). (various references) | |
Italian | pezzente (crook, ragamuffin, tramp, trash), mascalzone (blackguard, cad, rascal, rogue, rotter, scalawag, scallywag, scoundrel, yahoo), furfante (knave, miscreant, picaroon, rascal, rogue, scalawag, scallywag, scoundrel, skunk), delinquente (criminal, delinquent, offender, rogue, tough), canaglia (bounder, rascal, reprobate, riffraff, scamp, scoundrel, sod). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 無 漢 (ruffian, scoundrel). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | くせもの (knave, ruffian, suspicious fellow, thief), きょうぞく (village customs), きょうか" (assassin, between the mountains, breast, chest, ferocity, heinousness, instructor, mirror, one's hometown, outlaw, paragon, professor, response, scream, shout, sympathy, teacher), ぶらいか" (ruffian, scoundrel), か"じ" (aChinese, armorer, crucial, essential, fundamental, magnanimous, main, man of leisure, scoundrel, temple solicitation, vital), あくたま (bad character, bad person, baddie), あくに" (bad man), あくやく (bad translation, baddie, the villain's part), あくとう (rascal, scoundrel, wild pitch), あくと (rascal, scoundrel), あく ま (bad character, bad person, baddie), あっか" (best part, crook, feeling feverish and chilly, highlight, ill or unhappy feeling, masterpiece, rascal, ruffian, scoundrel). (various references) | |
Korean | 악당 (Felon). (various references) | |
Manx | mooidjeen (blackguard, fellow, outcast, outlaw, rascal, scoundrel), jouylleen (imp). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | illainvay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | vilão (churl, serf, villein), servo (bondman, bondservant, bondslave, helot, menial, serf, servant, slave, thrall, vassal), patife (caitiff, cheat, crook, heavy, knave, mean-spirited, miscreant, ne'er-do-well, rascal, rascally, reprobate, rogue, rotter, scamp, scapegrace, scoundrel, scoundrelly, spalpeen, vagabond, wretch), malvado (bad, black-hearted, candle-wick, evil, felon, felonious, flagitious, heavy, ill-conditioned, malicious, mean, mean-spirited, mischievous, nasty, nefarious, perverse, reprobate, scoundrelly, vicious, wicked, wrong), escravo (bond, bondman, bondservant, bondslave, helot, mameluke, minion, serf, thrall, vassal), canalha (blackguard, canaille, heavy, mean-spirited, miscreant, mob, rabble, riffraff, rogue, rotter, scam artist, scoundrel). (various references) | |
Romanian | ticãlos (a bad egg, base, cad, canting, cur, dark, dirty, felon, foul, heel, hound, impious, kite, knave, knavish, knavishly, low-minded, mean, meanly, miscreant, paltry, perverse, picaroon, rapscallion, rascal, rascally, recreant, reprobate, ruffian, scab, scabby, scamp, scoundrel, scurvy, serpentine, shabby, skunk, sneak, sneaking, vile, villainous, wretch, wretched), scelerat (scoundrel, vile, villainous, wicked, wretch), netrebnic (a dirty dog, good for nothing, knave, knavish, picaroon, rascal, reprobate, scab, sneak, useless, vile, worthless, wretch), nemernic (base, cad, caitiff, felon, foul, rascal, rascally, reprobate, scamp, scoundrel, sneak, sneaking, son of a gun, wretch, wretched), mişel (caitiff, cowardly, dastard, rascal, rascally, recreant, sneaking), leprã (leprosy), lepãdãturã (abortion, degenerate, freak, scoundrel), iobag (bondman, bondsman, Carl, thrall), chiolhãnos (scoundrel, vile), canalie (rapscallion, rascal, scoundrel, toad), bandit (bandit, bravo, brigand, gangster, highwayman, murderer, ruffian), şerb (bondsman, Carl, serf, thrall). (various references) | |
Russian | негодяй (brat, coyote, dastard, gallows bird, gallows-bird, hound, knave, loon, man of Belial, miscreant, rascal, reprobate, ruffian, scamp, scapegrace, scoundrel, spalpeen, wretch). (various references) | |
Scottish | trù (a beastly being, traitor). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zlikovac (criminal, evil doer), protivnik glavnom junaku, prostak (bounder, chuff, hayseed, patsy, vulgarian, yahoo), bitanga (hoodlum, louse, rapscallion, rascal, rat, rogue). (various references) | |
Spanish | bribón (dog, knave, rascal, scoundrel, varmint, wily). (various references) | |
Swedish | skurk (baddie, blackguard, cheat, crook, heavy, jackal, louses, miscreant, mug, rapscallion, rogue, ruffian, scoundrel, viper), rackare (blighter, cheat, crook, rascal, rogue, scallywag, scamp, scoundrel, varmint), bov (baddie, baddy, Badman, hooligan, rascal, scoundrel, villian). (various references) | |
Turkish | ortaçağ köylüsü (serf, villein), kabadayı (blusterer, bulldozer, bully, Hector, hoodlum, hooligan, rapscallion, rough, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, swashbuckler, tough, toughie), kötü adam (bad guy, baddie, baddy, the villain), hain (betrayer, cattish, catty, deceitful, dingo, disloyal, faithless, false, false-hearted, foul, insidious, Judas, malicious, nefarious, perfidious, rat, Ratter, renegade, scoundrel, scoundrelly, serpent, snaky, traitor, traitorous, treacherous, ungrateful, viperish, viperous, wicked), cani (bravo, butcher, cutthroat, felon, homicide, malefactor, murderer), çapkın (amorist, chaser, debauchee, dissolute, flirt, flirtatious, lecherous, lewd, libertine, licentious, lothario, profligate, rake, rakish, rascal, rip, rogue, roguish, roue, vagabond, varlet, wolf, womanizer). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | шибеник (brat, elfin, hanger, puck, varmint, wag), лиходій (cannibal, felon, fiend, malefactor, miscreant). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | côn đ" (rascally, thug, villainous). (various references) | |
Welsh | anfadwr (scoundrel). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | ambactus, carnificem, cliens, villa. (various references) |
| Medieval Latin | 700-1500 | bravus, fello, villanus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "villain": villainess, villainesses, villainies, villainous, villainously, villainousness, villainousnesses, villains, villainy. (additional references) | |
| |
"Villain" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: gillain, uillean, uilleann, vilain, vilia, Viliami, vilian, vilin, vilion, villae, villaint, villani, villian, Villino, vlain. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "villain" (pronounced vi"lun) |
| 4 | -i" l u n | Billon, bouillon, penicillin, vanillin. |
| 3 | -l u n | fallen, felon, adrenaline, Alan, Ballon, befallen, Callan, Chamberlain, chaplain, colon, crestfallen, discipline, elan, gallon, globulin, gremlin, insulin, javelin, kaolin, Kremlin, lanolin, Magdalen, Marlin, masculine, melon, Mullen, muskmelon, muslin, pelon, pentathlon, phenolphthalein, pollen, porcelain, solan, Solon, stolen, stollen, sullen, swollen, talon, Tolan, triathlon, watermelon, woolen, woollen, Zeppelin. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-i-i-l-l-n-v" | |
-2 letters: anvil, ilial, nival, villa, villi, vinal. | |
-3 letters: anil, ilia, inia, lain, nail, nill, vail, vain, vial, vill, vina. | |
-4 letters: ail, ain, all, ani, ill, lav, lin, nil, van, via. | |
-5 letters: ai, al, an, in, la, li, na. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-i-i-l-l-n-v" | |
+1 letter: vanillic, vanillin, vialling, villains, villainy. | |
+2 letters: anvilling, cavilling, invalidly, rivalling, vanillins. | |
+3 letters: inviolable, inviolably, vigilantly, villainess, villainies, villainous, virginally, visionally, volitional. | |
+4 letters: alleviating, alleviation, convivially, genitivally, illuviation, intervallic, inviolately, plaintively, vacillating, vacillation, victualling. | |
+5 letters: alleviations, evidentially, gallivanting, illuminative, illuviations, individually, interfluvial, interpluvial, intervillage, intravitally, involutional, levitational, outcavilling, outrivalling, provincially, unavailingly, vacillations, vaudevillian, villainesses, villainously, volatilising, volatilizing. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
