villein

vil·lein also vil·lain  (vln, -n, v-ln)

n.

One of a class of feudal serfs who held the legal status of freemen in their dealings with all people except their lord.

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[Middle English vilein; see villain.]

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villein, villain [ˈvɪlən]

n

(Historical Terms) (in medieval Europe) a peasant personally bound to his lord, to whom he paid dues and services, sometimes commuted to rents, in return for his land

[from Old French vilein serf; see villain]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

villein - (Middle Ages) a person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord helot, serf Europe - the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use `Europe' to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles cottier, cotter - a medieval English villein thrall - someone held in bondage Dark Ages, Middle Ages - the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance

Translations

villein [ˈvɪlɪn] N (Hist) → villano/a m/f

villein

n (Hist) → Leibeigene(r) mf