Editing Villain (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Villains before going to Work receiving their Lord's Orders Miniature in the Proprietaire des Choses Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century Library of the Arsenal in Paris.png|thumb|French villains in the 15th century before going to work, receiving their lord's orders.]]
The term ''villain'' first came into [[English language|English]] from the [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-French]] and [[Old French]] ''vilain'', which in turn derives from the [[Late Latin]] word ''villanus'',.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Robert K. Barnhart |author2=Sol Steinmetz |title=Chambers Dictionary of Etymology |date=1999 |publisher=Chambers |location=New York |isbn=0550142304 |page=1204}}</ref> This refers to those bound to the soil of the [[villa]], who worked on the equivalent of a modern estate in [[Late Antiquity]], in [[Italy]] or [[Gaul]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=David B. Guralnik |title=[[Webster's New World Dictionary]] |date=1984 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |isbn=0671418149 |edition=2nd college}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2018}}

''Vilain'' later shifted to ''[[villein]]'',<ref>{{cite web |title=villain |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/villain |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012053942/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/villain |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2018 |website=[[OxfordDictionaries.com|Oxford Dictionaries]] |access-date=October 11, 2018}}</ref> which referred to a person of less than knightly status, implying a lack of [[chivalry]] and [[courtesy]]. All actions that were unchivalrous or evil (such as [[betrayal|treachery]] or [[rape]]) eventually became part of the identity of a villain in the modern sense of the word. Additionally, ''villein'' came into use as a term of [[abuse]] and eventually took on its modern meaning.<ref>{{cite book |author1=C. S. Lewis |author-link=C. S. Lewis |title=Studies in Words |date=2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781107688650 |pages=120–121 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xONwBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA120 |access-date=October 11, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

The landed aristocracy of mediaeval Europe used politically and linguistically the Middle English descendant of ''villanus'' meaning "villager" (styled as ''vilain'' or ''vilein'') with the meaning "a person of uncouth mind and manners". As the common equating of manners with morals gained in strength and currency, the connotations worsened, so that the modern word ''villain'' is no unpolished villager but is instead (among other things) a deliberate scoundrel or criminal.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-villain-in-the-history-of-the-word-villain-isnt-the-villain |title=The History of the Word 'Villain' |access-date=August 22, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

At the same time, the mediaeval expression "vilein" or "vilain" is closely influenced by the word "vile", referring to something wicked or worthless.
As from the late 13th century, ''vile'' meant "morally repugnant; morally flawed, corrupt, wicked; of no value; of inferior quality; disgusting, foul, ugly; degrading, humiliating; of low estate, without worldly honor or esteem", from Anglo-French ''ville'', Old French ''vil'', from Latin ''vilis'' "cheap, worthless, of low value".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/vile |title=vile (adj.)|access-date=August 22, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>