1. A character in a story, movie, etc., who does bad things: "A villain is often pictured in stories as having a sharp nose, squinting eyes, and wearing a black cape."
2. Someone or something that is blamed for a particular problem or difficulty: "Don't try to make me the villain! I don't have anything to do with your problems!"

A free common villager or village peasant of any of the feudal classes lower in rank than the thane or a man ranking above an ordinary freeman and below a noble in Anglo-Saxon England: "The villein and his family had to work hard in order to keep the cottage they were living in."