villainy, n.
(ˈvɪlənɪ)
Forms: α. 3–4 vileinie (3 uil-), 4 vileynye, vyleyny(e, vileyne; 4 vylaynye, vilaynie, 5 vilainy. β. 4 vilani(ie, wilani(e, 6 vilanie, 4–5 vylanye (6 -ie), 4–6 vylany, vilany(e; 4 velani(e, -ije, 4[5 velanye, 4–6 -any (5 -ane), 6 welany; 5 villane, wyllanye, Sc. willany, 6 vyllany, 6–7 villanie, 6–9 villany (7 -ey). γ. 4 vilenie, -ye, vylenye (fyl-), 4–5 vi-, vyleny, 5 vylney, Sc. vilne; 5 veleni, -eny; 6 villeny(e, 6–7 -enie. δ. 4–5 vilonie, -ony(e, 4–6 vylonye, 5 -ony; veloni, velonye, welonye; villonye. ε. 7 villainie, 7– villainy.
[a. AF. vile(i)nie, vilainye, vilanie, OF. vileinnie, villenie, vilanie, vilonie, vilenie (so mod.F.), etc., = Pr. vilania, -onia, Sp., Pg., and It. villania, whence also med.L. villania: see villain n. and -y.
The present spelling was rare before the 18th c. and did not become established until the 19th, when it gradually displaced the more prevalent villany.]
1. Action or conduct befitting, characteristic or typical of, a villain; evil or wrongdoing of a foul, infamous, or shameful nature; extreme wickedness on the part of a person in dealing with others.
| α a 1225 Ancr. R. 216 Lechurs, þet habbeð so uorloren scheome þet ham nis nowiht of scheome, auh secheð hwu heo muwen mest uileinie wurchen. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1329 Vor it is ech prince iwis & king vileinie To defouli is kniȝtes þoru wam he aþ þe maistrie. 1340 Ayenb. 18 He is wel vileyn and ontrewe auoreye his lhord,..and yelt him kuead uor guod, and vileynye uor corteysye. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 863 Dos away your derf dyn & derez neuer my gestes, Avoy! hit is your vylaynye, ȝe vylen your seluen. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 2422 Bot godd hir [kept] þat was hir wit..þat moght naman o licherie Hir body neght wit wilanie. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 71 For iwysse hit arn so wykke þat in þat won dowellez, & her malys is so much I may not abide, Bot venge me on hir vilanye & venym bilyue. 1396–7 in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1907) XXII. 297 We knowe wel þat euery lesyng opinli prechid turnith him to velanye þat euere was trewe and with oute defaute. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ii. 981 Tenelayus..mad hym cortasse welcummynge... Bot he did willany þar agayn: Þis Tenelayus he walde haf slayn. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) E vij b, The greateste vyllany in a villayne is to be gyuen in largesse of lyes. 1538 Elyot, Obscœnitas, villany in actes; rybauldrie. 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 116 Thou little valiant, great in villanie, Thou euer strong vpon the stronger side. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 55 From thirst of wealth & golden villany I now am come to brutish gluttonie. 1679 Hatton Corr. (Camden) 199 He hath been twice pillor'd, and committed all manner of villaney. a 1716 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 95 He will hardly ever be able to carry his Matters so cunningly, but that his Villany will at last be discover'd. 1771 Junius Lett. liv. (1788) 300 This may be logic at Cambridge,..but among men of sense and honour, it is folly or villany in the extreme. 1841 James Brigand iii. 41 There is some mistake here, and I think some villany. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 217 He had been induced, by the villany of Tyrconnel, to trust himself at Saint Germains. |
| personif. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 166 Another image, that Vilanye Y-cleped was, saugh I... Vilanye was lyk somdel That other image [sc. Felony]; and..She semed a wikked creature. |
| transf. and fig. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. ii. 13 Nothing rowts vs, but The villany of oure feares. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 349 Ignorant of the deceits of men, and unused to the villany of powder. |
| γ c 1315 Shoreham iii. 328 Ac ys [deadly sin] þat uoule wyl al so To swyche fylenye. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 433 Ich can nouht speke for shame The vylenye of my foule mouþe and of my foule mawe. a 1425 Cursor M. 4405 (Trin.), Here may men se þe vileny þat he souȝte on his lady. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 36 He and y hadd gret communicacion diuerse tymes, but it was neuer in no ueleni, nor in no euell thought nor in dede. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 61 In father his presence with spightful villenye cancred, Thee soon that murthrest, my sight with boucherye stayning. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. vii. 23 The gentle knight Would not be tempted to such villenie. |
| δ c 1380 Wyclif Tracts Wks. (1880) 204 To be aschamyd of eche euyl speche, & namely of lecherie & euyl contenaunce of synne & ribaudrie & vilonye. c 1430 How the Good Wife in Babees Book (1868) 38 Kepe þee from synne, fro vilonye, & fro blame. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 44 Who wold haue thought that I shold haue had vylonye of Rolland? |
| ε 1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo ii. iii. 49 O, that villainy should be found in the great Chamber. 1722 Wollaston Relig. Nat. vi. 133 He may..endeavour to recover what has been by any kind of violence or villainy taken from him. 1772 Pennant Tours Scot. (1774) 10 Murdered by assassins who crossed the moat to perpetrate their villainy. 1819 Shelley Cenci i. iii. 175 Manhood's purpose stern, And age's firm, cold, subtle villainy. 1843 A. Bethune Sc. Fireside Stor. 107 Jenny and his other friends declaimed loudly upon the villainy of Mr. M‘Quiddit, in keeping him so long from his own. 1861 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. cxlvi. III. 133 The same kind of villainy was meditated in China. |
b. With
a and
pl.,
this,
that, etc. An instance or case of this; a piece of wicked conduct or dealing; a vile act or deed.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 634 Gawan was for gode knawen, & as golde pured, Voyded of vche vylany, wyth vertuez ennourned in mote. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 94 For þis foule vyleynye veniaunce to ȝow alle. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 133 Him thenkth it were a vilenie, Bot he rewarde him for his dede. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6912 Vlixes..To venge of þat vilany vili dissirit. 1483 Cath. Angl. 400/1 A velany, dedicus. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 755 Requiryng them therefore to studie how to reuenge and punishe so great a villanie. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. viii. 12 Bought you a whistle and a whipstalke too, To be reuenged on their villanies? c 1618 Moryson Itin. iv. (1903) 482 Though indeede they take it rather for a grace to be reputed actiue in any Villany, espetially Cruelty and theft. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. ii. i. 187 Other Errours there are, that lead to beastly and unnatural Villanies. 1691 Hartcliffe Virtues 53 Under pretence thereof Wars might be raised, Robberies and all manner of Villanies committed. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 42 If they are honest men and would not appear in this villany. 1742 Fielding J. Andrews i. x[i]v, The greatest villanies are daily practised to please thee. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 152 He was determined to keep his place, if it could be kept by any villany but one. 1860 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. cxxviii. III. 86 But such is what the poor have to expect, when they assist in the villainies of the rich. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. I. 411 æthelred, if he had not ordered this villany, at any rate made himself an accessory after the fact. |
† 2. Treatment of a degrading or shameful nature as suffered or received by a person; ill-usage, injury, indignity, insult.
Obs. Not always clearly distinct from sense 3.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 17150 Befor mi moder eien..Sufferd i al þis wilani [v.r. velani]. 13.. K. Alis. 2500 (Laud MS.), Þer dude Alisaunder curteisie; He kepte hem from vche vilenye, Darries moder, & darries wijf. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Peter) 548 He..mad gret playnt of þe schame, of þe vilne, and of þe blame, þat lytil befor tholit he. c 1440 York Myst. xxii. 70 And gladly suffir I for thy sake swilk velany. 1567 Trial Treas. C iij b, Ye, ye they haue vsed me with to much vilanie. 1586 J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 82/2 Kildare pursuing Ormond to the chapiter house doore, vndertooke on his honor that he should receiue no villanie. 1590 Greene Royal Exch. Wks. (Grosart) VII. 263 To see villanie offered him, and to holde his peace. |
† b. In the
phr. to put (a person) to villainy.
| 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 207 Wyddowes and wyues were put to vilany, Maydens were corrupt and slayne chamfully. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark ix. 62 Syth menne shoulde se hym [sc. Jesus] sone after putte to so muche shame and villany. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Conculco,..to treade vnder foote: to put to extreme vilanie. |
† c. ? A punishment of a degrading or ignominious nature.
Obs.—1| a 1400–50 Bk. Curtasye 56 in Babees Bk., Yf þou make mawes on any wyse, A velany þou kacches or euer þou rise. |
† 3. Disgrace, dishonour; ignominy; discredit.
Obs. (
freq. c 1400–
c 1500).
| c 1375 Cursor M. 803 (Fairf.), Þai clad ham þan for velane wiþ brade leues of fyge tree. 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 545 Schir Amery..Raid till Yngland, and purchast ther Of armyt men gret cumpany, To venge hym of the velany. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 2384 Y þe mekely prey..to correcty hit so þat y naue no vyleny þere-by. 1436 Hen. VI in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. Var. Coll. IV. 199 To caste this land oute of all reputacion into perpetual reprofe, vylonye and shame thorwgh the wordil. a 1470 Harding Chron. vii. clxxxi, The kyng Edwarde had all the victorye, The kyng Philyp had all the vilanye. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 23 Dame Luke..knew wel y{supt} her doughter Perron was no mayde, therfore she doubted greatly to haue vylonye. a 1533 ― Huon viii. 20 It shalbe greatly to your veleny and reproche yf I be thus slayne by you. 1565 J. Jewel Reply Harding (1611) 371 They thought great villanie in that kind of Death. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 327 For this cause there is in Shame not onely a feare of villanie, but indignation also, after the committing of some fault. |
† b. Used predicatively: A fact or circumstance bringing disgrace or discredit
to a person. Also without
const. Obs.| c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 27 It es a velany a man for to be curyously arrayede apone his heuede..and all his body be nakede and bare as it ware a beggere. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1231 But she hym holpe his harme to aswage; Hir thought it elles a vylanye. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 533/173 Ȝif þat þou chyde þi soget, Hit is to þe vileynye gret. 1467 Paston Lett. II. 308, If I wer ther withought I had the mor sadder or wurchepfull persones abought me,..it shuld be to me but a vylney. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iii. viii. 108 Ye haue doone a passynge fowle dede in the sleyinge of the lady, the whiche will be grete vylany vnto yow. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lv. 185 It shal be to you grete velany [ed. 1601 dishonour]. |
† c. A person or thing that is the source of discredit or disgrace.
Obs. rare.
| 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xxiii. 31 He shal ben vileny to alle; forthi that he vnderstod not the drede of the Lord. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Galat. 21 The Gentiles..coumpte his crosse for a vilanie and reproche. |
† 4. to do villainy or a villainy,
esp. to (a person), in
prec. senses.
Obs.| α 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 6516 The syxte synne ys glotonye; þat ys a shameful vyleynye þat men doun of mete and drynk. a 1330 Otuel 358 King charles..was hende & good, & nolde for his wordes heȝe Don otuel no vileinie. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 287 Þei..don hym more dispite and vileyne þan diden Judas Scarioth and Jewis. a 1425 Cursor M. 20340 (Trin.), Þerfore þeron haue þou þi þouȝt..Þat þei me do no vilayne. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 16306 Pilate said and badd þai ne suld do him [sc. Jesus] na vilani. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1823 Lucrece, Whi hast thow don this lady vilanye? c 1450 Mirk's Festial 106 By helpe of þe fende, he made hym lyke an angyll, and come to dyuers maydyns,..and soo lay by hom, and dude hom gret vylany. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ciii. 52 b, The kyng Osbright me hath done shame & vilanye ayens my wyll. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 254 [They] spared not to do all the vylany & shame to the sone of god that they coude deuyse. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV. ii. i. 130 Pay her the debt you owe her, and vnpay the villany you haue done her. a 1683 Sidney Disc. Govt. i. i. (1704) 8 A third sort of Men who would neither do Villanys, nor suffer more than the Laws did permit. |
| γ c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2333 Philomene, This false thef Hath don this lady ȝit a more myschef For fere lyst she shulde his shame crye And don hym opynly a vilenye. 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 136 In that he dothe to god ouer-grete veleny. |
| δ c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2254 He wende wiþ is ferete [to] haue do þe vylonye. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 389 Atthalus hadde despitousliche i-scorned þis Pausania, and i-doo hym grete vilonye. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xvii. 100 Ther in thei doon foul vilonie to Cristis lawe of feith. 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. i. (1883) 20 Thanswer of a noble & debonair prynce That suffred that villonye don to his doughter. |
† 5. to say or speak (a, no, etc.) villainy, to speak evil, to use wicked, low, obscene, or opprobrious language. Also,
to speak villainy of, to defame or throw discredit on (a person).
Obs. After
OF. dire vilonie (Du Cange
s.v. Villania).
| (a) a 1300 Cursor M. 7832 For qua lais hand in feloni O king, or sais him vilani,..wit-vten grith, He dei. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 1549 A nunne..Þat ȝede to helle for no þyng ellys But for she spake euer vyleyny. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 70 He neuere yet no vileynye ne sayde In al his lyf vn to no maner wight. 1419 in S. Bentley Excerpta Historica (1831) 38 That no man saye no vilony to non other, throughe the whiche vilony saynge, may falle sodenly man slaughter, or risinge of people. 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. i. (1883) 20 This prince had also a frende that..sayd on a tyme as moche villonye unto the prynce as ony man miht saye. 1483 ― Gold. Leg. 424/1 She..said many Iniuryes & vylonyes to fyacre contumeleyng & blasphemyng hym. 1611 Bible Isaiah xxxii. 6 The vile person wil speake villenie, and his heart will worke iniquitie. |
| (b) 1470–85 Malory Arthur xx. xix. 832 Alle the world wylle speke of yow vylony. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 285 Do not a thing that should blemishe your renowne, neither geue occasion for any to speake vilanie of you. 1581 A. Hall Iliad v. 83 Al men of vs great villany would say. |
† b. So
words of villainy.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 28531, I ha bene wont thoru lucheri Wordes to spek of vilany. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶22 If..he be a talkere of ydil wordes of vanite or of vilonye. 1568 Bk. Nurture To Parents, Take heede they speake no wordes of vilany. |
† 6. Lack of courtesy or politeness; discourtesy, incivility, rudeness; boorishness, rusticity.
Obs.| c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1528 For þat somtyme men held velany Now yhung men haldes curtasy; And þat som tyme was curtasy cald, Now wille yhong men velany hald. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 740 Crist spak hym self ful brode in hooly writ, And wel ye woot no vileynye is it. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 590 Inurbanitas, vylonye. c 1480 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 45 Syr erle, he seyd, take and begyn; He seyd: nay, be seynt Austyn, That was to me vylony. c 1481 Caxton Dialogues 29 For I reffuse not The cuppe; That were vylonye [F. villonie]. |
| a 1677 Barrow Serm. Titus iii. 2 Wks. (1687) I. 239 This practice [of railing and reviling] doth plainly signifie..ill breeding and bad manners... In our modern languages it is termed Villany, as being proper for rustick Boors. 1694 Dryden Love Triumph. i. i, But this large courtesy, this overpraise You give his worth, in any other mouth Were villainy to me. |
† 7. The condition or state of a villein; bondage, servitude; hence, base or ignoble condition of life; moral degradation.
Obs.| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶9 Certes wel aughte a man haue disdeyne of synne, and wiþdrawe him fro þat þraldom and vilenye. 1540 Coverdale Fruitful Less. i. Wks. (Parker Soc.) I. 300 Jesus..took upon himself the most extreme shame..to deliver us from eternal villany. 1543 T. Becon New Catech. Wks. 1560 I. 415 b, These, these goo about to bring vs vnto vilany. |
† b. Low or wretched condition.
Obs.| 1570 Jewel View Seditious Bull (1582) 47 Haue not they spoiled & wasted those two noble Cuntries & brought them to such vilanie & miserie, as they neuer felt before? |
† 8. Imperfection, defect, or injury in things.
Obs.—1| c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) ii. lviii. (1859) 56 The bones stoden vp, as men, in the same persones, ryght as they were byfore, withouten ony spot or vylonye. |
9. Base, villainous, or wicked quality.
| 1702 Addison Dial. Medals ii. (1726) 101 Ingratitude..can arise from nothing but a natural baseness and villany of soul. |
Hence
† ˈvillainy (in 5
vylonye)
v. trans.,
= villain v. 1.
Obs.—1| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 113/3 For as moche as they haue dyspyted and vylonyed the blood of Jhesu. |