Vileness
/ˈvaɪl.nəs/noun
The quality of being morally bad, mean, or disgusting.
Did you know?The word ultimately descends from Latin *villanus*, meaning a person from a country estate or farm, showing how social class terms can harden into judgments about character.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*weik-
“to settle, live in a clan or settlement”
Latin
Latin
villa
“a country house or estate”
Late Latin
Latin
villanus
“a farm servant or person from an estate”
Old French
Old French
vilain
“a peasant, rustic person; later, a base or wicked person”
Middle English
English
vilenesse
“baseness, worthlessness, moral depravity”
Modern English
English
vileness
“the quality of being vile or despicable”