villain

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

VIL'LAIN, VIL'LAINOUS, adjective [from villain ] 1. Base; very vile. 2. Wicked; extremely depraved; as a villanous person or wretch. 3. Proceeding from extreme depravity; as a villanous action. 4. Sorry; vile; mischievous; in a familiar sense; as a villanous trick of the eye. Villanous judgment, in old law, a judgment that casts reproach on the guilty person.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

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