[ 'vɪlən ]
■ noun
1》 a wicked person or a person guilty of a crime.
↘(in a play or novel) a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot.
2》 archaic variant spelling of villein .
Derivatives
~ous adjective
~ously adverb
~ousness noun
~y noun ( plural ~ies ).
Origin
ME (in the sense 'a rustic'): from OFr. vilein , based on L. villa (see villa ).