villein

After the Norman invasion the name of Villein, a person attached to the villa, was given to the serfs.

A case still more familiar to most readers is that of the word villain or villein.

"I very much would like to see a villein drown," cried a lad of eleven years, son of the Sire of Bourgeuil.

The villein took the cruel blow without wince or cry, as one to whom stripes are a birthright and an inheritance.

The villein regardant might be severed from the manor, with or without land, and would then become a villein in gross.