villanize 
villanizet, '' ' See vi 
villanizert, . See ri 
villanous, villanously, etc. See rillninou/t, 
etc. 
Villarsia ( vi-liir'si-ii), H. [NL. (Ventenat, 1803), 
named after the French botanist Dominique 
nilarn (1745-1814).] A genus of garaopeta- 
lotis plants, of the order (ffiitianacese and tribe 
MeniiailtliCiF. It differs from Menyantkcs (the type) in 
its usually four-valved capsule, and its entire or irregular- 
ly sinuate leaves. There are about 12 species, natives of 
South Africa anil Australia. They are herbs with long- 
stalked radical leaves, numerous yellow or white flowers 
in cymes which are loosely panicled, or crowded into cor- 
ymbs, or condensed into an involucrate head. Several spe- 
cies, as V. calthifolia and V. rcniforiniK, sometimes known 
as lienealmia, are cultivated in aquariums under the name 
of marsh-buttercups. 
villatic ( vi-lat'ik), a. [< L. villa ticus, of or per- 
taining to a villa or farm, < villa, a country 
house, a farm : see vill, Village,"] Of or pertain- 
ing to a farm. 
Assailant on the perched roosts 
And nests in order ranged 
Of tame vUlatick fowl. Milton, S. A., 1. 1695. 
villeggiatura (vi-lej-a-to'ra), n. [It., < villeg- 
giare, stay at a country-seat, < rilla, a country- 
seat : see villa."] The period spent at a country- 
seat ; retirement in the country. 
Beginning with the warm days of early May, and con- 
tinuing till the mUeggiatura interrupts it late in Septem- 
ber, all Venice goes by a single impulse of dolce far niente. 
Howdls, Venetian Life, iv. 
Being just now in villeggiatura, I hear many wise re- 
marks from my bucolic friends about the weather. 
Mortimer Collins, Thoughts in my Garden, I. 5. 
villein, . and a. See villain. 
villeinage, villenage (vil'en-aj), n. [Also vil- 
htiiage; < OF. villenage, vilenage, vilonage (= Sp. 
villanaje, ML. rillenitgium), servile tenure, < vil- 
lein, vilain, etc., a farm-servant, villain: see vil- 
lain. Cf. villainage."] A tenure of lands and 
tenements by base that is, menial services. 
It was originally founded on the servile state of the occu- 
piers of the soil, who were allowed to hold portions of land 
at the will of their lord, on condition of performing base 
or menial services. Where the service was base in its na- 
ture, and undefined as to time and amount^ the tenant 
being bound to do whatever was commanded, the tenure 
received the name of pure villeinage ; but where the ser- 
vice, although of a base nature, was certain and denned, it 
was called privileged villeinage, and sometimes villein soc- 
age. The tenants in villeinage were divided into two dis- 
tinct classes. First, there were the villani proper, whose 
holdings, the hides, half-hides, virgates, and bovates (see 
hide^, holding), were correlative with the number of oxen 
allotted to them or contributed by them to the manorial 
plow-team of eight oxen. Below the villani proper were the 
numerous smaller tenants of what may be termed the cot- 
tier class, sometimes called in " Liber Niger " bordarii (prob- 
ably from the Saxon bord, a cottage), and these cottagers, 
possessing generally no oxen, and therefore taking no part 
in the common plowing, still in some manors seem to have 
ranked as a lower grade of villani, having small allot- 
ments in the open fields, in some manors five-acre strips 
apiece, in other manors more or less. Lastly, below the 
villains and cottiers were, in some districts, remains, hard- 
ly to be noticed in the later cartularies, of a class of serin, 
or slaves, fast becoming merged in the cottier class above 
them, or losing themselves among the household servants 
or laborers upon the lord's demesne. (Seebohm.) (See 
manor, yard-land, heriot.) It frequently happened that 
lands held in villeinage descended in uninterrupted succes- 
sion from father to son, until at length the occupiers or vil- 
lains became entitled, by prescription or custom, to hold 
their lands against the lord so long as they performed the 
required services. And although the villains themselves 
acquired freedom, or their land came into the possession 
of freemen, the villein services were still the condition of 
the tenure, according to the custom of the manor. These 
customs were preserved and evidenced by the rolls of the 
several courts-baron in which they were entered, or kept 
on foot by the constant immemorial usage of the several 
manors in which the lands lay. And as such tenants had 
nothing to show for their estates but the entries in those 
rolls, or copies of them authenticated by the steward, they 
at last came to be called tenants by copy of court-roU, and 
their tenure a copyhold. 
The burden of villeiiage in England had not been heavy 
even under the Norman rule, when the ceorl had under the 
shadow of his master's contempt retained many of the 
material benefits of his earlier freedom. But the English 
ceorl had had slaves of his own, and the Norman lawyer 
steadily depressed the ceorl himself to the same level. The 
ceorl had his right in the common land of his township ; 
his Latin name villanus had been a symbol of freedom ; but 
his privileges were bound to the land, and when the Nor- 
man lord took the land he took the villein with it Still 
the villein retained his customary rights, his house and 
land and rights of wood and hay ; his lord's demesne de- 
pended for cultivation on his services, and he had in his 
lord's sense of self-interest the sort of protection that was 
shared by the horse and the ox. Law and custom too, pro- 
tected him in practice more than in theory. So mlleiiagc 
grew to be a base tenure, differing in degree rather than 
in kind from socage, and privileged as well as burdened. 
Stubbs, Const. Hist., 264. 
Pure villeinage, in feudal law, a tenure of lands by un- 
certain services at the will of the lord, so that the tenant 
is bound to do whatever is commanded of him : opposed 
to privileged villeinage. 
vilienoust, . See villainous. 
Villi, w. Plural of villus. 
6756 
villiform (vil'i-form), . [< L. rillux, shaggy 
hair, + forma, form.] Villous in form; like 
villi in appearance or to the touch; resembling 
the plush or pile of velvet; having the char- 
acter of a set of villi. 
villiplacental (vil"i-pla-sen'tal), <t. [< NL. 
riling + placenta: see placental.] Having a 
tufted or villous placenta of the kind peculiar 
to indeciduate mammals, as the hoofed quadru- 
peds, sirenians, and cetaceans. 
Villiplacentalia (vil-i-plas-en-ta'li-a), n. fit. 
[NL. : see villiplacental."] A series of indecid- 
uate mammals having a tufted or villous pla- 
centa. It consists of the I'ncjulata, Sirenia, and 
Cetacea. 
villitis (vi-li'tis), n. [NL., appar. < rilliix + 
-itis.~] Inflammation of the coronary cushion 
or secreting substance of the hoof-wall of the 
horse, leading to the formation of imperfect 
horn. Also called coronitis. 
villoid (vil'oid), a. [< NL. villas + -old."] In 
l>ot., pertaining to or resembling villi or fine 
hairs; villiform. 
villose (vil'os), a. Same as villous. Bailey. 
villosity (vi-los'i-ti), n. ; pi. villosities (-tiz). [= 
F. fillosite, < L." villosus, shaggy : see villous.'} 
1. A number of villi together; a roughness or 
shagginess resulting from villiform processes ; 
a nap or pile, as of an organic membrane ; fine 
or short hispidity; pilosity. 
The vUlosities may also be peopled with numerous ba- 
cilli. Sanitarian, XVI. 629. 
2. In liol., the state of being villous, or covered 
with long, soft hairs ; such hairs collectively. 
villotte (vi-lof), n. Same as villanella. 
Villous (vil'us), a. [= F. rilleux = It. villoso. < 
L. rillosus, hairy, shaggy, < villas, shaggy hair: 
see villus."] 1. Having villi; abounding in vil- 
liform processes; covered with fine hairs or 
woolly substance ; nappy ; shaggy ; finely hir- 
sute or hispid : as ; a rillous membrane. 2. In 
bot., pubescent with long and soft hairs which 
are not interwoven Villous cancer papilloma 
Villus (vil'us), n. ; pi. villi (-1). [NL., < L. vil- 
lus, shaggy hair, a tuft of hair.] 1. In anat.: 
(a) One of numerous minute vascular pro- 
jections from the mucous membrane of the in- 
testine, of a conical, 
cylindric, clubbed, 
or filiform shape, 
consisting essential- 
ly of a lacteal vessel 
as a central axis, 
with an arteriole 
and a veinlet, in- 
closed in a layer of 
epithelium, with the 
basement membrane 
and muscular tissue 
of the mucous mem- 
brane, and cellular 
or reticular tissue. 
The villi occur chiefly in 
the small intestine, and 
especially in the upper 
part of that tube ; there 
are estimated to be sever- 
al millions in man ; they 
collectively constitute the beginnings of the absorbent or 
lacteal vessels of the intestine. See also cut under lym- 
phatic, (lif One of the little vascular tufts or 
processes of the shaggy chorion of an ovum or 
embryo, in later stages of development entering 
into the formation of the fetal part of the pla- 
centa. See cut under uterus, (c) Some villi- 
form part or process of various animals. See 
cut under hydra-nth. 2. In bot.. one of the long, 
straight, and soft hairs which sometimes cover 
the fruit, flowers, and other parts of plants. 
Arachnoidal villi, the Pacchionian bodies or glands. 
-Intestinal villi. See def. 1. 
Vilmorinia (vil-mo-rin'i-a), n. [NL. (A. P. 
de Candolle, 1825), named after P. V. L. de Vil- 
morin (1746-1804), a noted French gardener.] 
A genus of leguminous plants, of the tribe Gale- 
gese and subtribe Eobiniefe. It is characterized by 
Two Villi of the Smalt Intestine, mag- 
nified about fifty diameters. 
<r. lymphatic tissue of the villus; 
l>, its columnar epithelium, three de- 
tached cells of which are seen at />' : 
r, the artery, and rf, the vein, with 
their connecting capillary network 
enveloping and hiding f, the lacteal 
radicle, wnich occupies the center of 
the villus and opens into a network 
of lacteal vessels at its base. 
odd-pinnate leaves, an elongated tubular calyx, oblong pet- 
als, the wings shorter than the keel, and by a wingless 
acuminate stalked pod. The only species, V . multijlora, 
is an erect shrub, native in Hayti, with downy leaves of five 
or six pairs of leaflets. It bears axillary racemes of hand- 
some purple flowers, and is sometimes cultivated under 
glass under the name of VHmorin'i pea-flower. 
vim (vim), n. [< L. vim, ace. of vis, strength, 
force, power, energy, in particular hostile force, 
violence, = Gr. if (*Ftf), strength. The aec. 
form seems to have been taken up in school or 
college, from the frequent L. phrases per vim, 
by force, vim facere, use force, etc.] Vigor; 
energy; activity. [Colloq.] 
Vinalia 
The men I find at the head of the great enterprises of 
this Coast [California] have great business power awide 
practical reach, a boldness, a sagacity, a vim, that I do 
not believe can be matched anywhere in the world. 
S. Bowles, in Merriam, II. 7. 
vimen (vi'men), . [NL., < L. rinit'ii (-in-), a 
pliant twig, a withe, < fierc, twist together, 
plait: see rine, inf/ie 2 .] In hot., a long and 
flexible shoot of a plant. 
viminal (vim'i-nal), <i. [< L. rimiiialis, of or 
pertaining to twigs or osiers, < liiiicn (-in-), a 
twig: see rimen.] Of or pertaining to twigs or 
shoots; consisting of twigs; producing twigs. 
Blovnt, 
Viminaria (vim-i-na'ri-a), n. [NL. (Smith, 
1804), so called from its rush-like twiggy 
branches and petioles; < L. vimen, a twig: see 
rinii'ti.] A genus of leguminous plants, of the 
tribe 1'oilalyrir.a 1 . It is characterized by a slightly 
five-toothed calyx, ample banner-petal, connate keel-pet- 
als, an ovoid indehiscent pod, and commonly a solitary 
seed with a small strophiole. It is peculiar in the absence 
of leaves, which are represented only by filiform elongated 
petioles (rarely bearing from one to three small leaflets), 
and adding to the broom-like effect of the elongated slen- 
der branches. The only species, V. denudata, is a native 
of Australia, there known as mamp-oak and as swamp- or 
rush-broom; its flowers are small, orange-yellow, borne in 
terminal racemes. 
vimineous (vi-min'e-us). a. [< L. mminens, 
made of twigs or osiers, < rimen (-in-), a twig, a 
withe : see rimen."] 1. Made of twigs or shoots. 
[Rare.] 
In a Hive's vimiiteous Dome 
Ten thousand Bees enjoy their Home. 
Prior, Alma, iii. 
2. In bot., made up of or bearing long, flexible 
twigs; viminal. 
Vina (ve'na), n. [Also veena ; Skt. rind.'] A 
Hindu musical instrument of the guitar family, 
having seven strings stretched over a long fin- 
ger-board of bamboo which rests on two gourds 
and has about twenty frets, the position of 
which may be varied at the pleasure of the per- 
former. In playing the instrument, one gourd 
is placed on the shoulder and one on the hip. 
Also 6i. 
vinaceous (vi-na'shius), a. [< L. rinaceits, per- 
taining to wine or to the grape, < vinum, wine : 
see wine."] 1. Belonging to wine or grapes. 
2. Wine-colored ; claret-colored ; red, like wine. 
vinage (vi'naj), n. [< vine + -age.] The ad- 
dition of spirit to wine to preserve it or enable 
it to withstand transportation. 
VinagO (vi-na'go), n. [NL. (Cuvier, 1800), 
earlier in Willughby and Kay, equiv. to u-inix, 
so called with ref. to the vinaceous color of the 
neck; < L. vinttm, wine, grapes: see wine.] 1. 
An extensive genus of Old World fruit-pigeons, 
variously applied in some restricted senses: 
exactly synonymous with Treron (which see). 
2. [/. e.] Any pigeon of this genus; formerly, 
some other pigeon. 
vinaigrette (vin-a-gref), [< F. vinaigrette, 
< vinaigre, vinegar: see vinegar. Cf. vinegar- 
ette."] 1. A small bot- 
tle or box used for car- 
rying about the per- 
son some drug having 
a strong and pungent 
odor, commonly aro- 
matic vinegar. It is usu- 
ally fitted with a double cov- 
er, the inner one made of 
openwork or pierced, the 
drug being either in solid 
form or held by a fragment 
of sponge. 
2. A vinegar sauce. 
[Rare.] 3. A small 
two-wheeled vehicle 
to be drawn like a 
Bath chair by a boy 
or a man. Simmonds. 
[Rare.] 
vinaigrier (vi-na'gri-er), 11. [= F. vinaigrier, 
< vinaigre, vinegar: see vinegar.] The whip- 
scorpion, Thelyphoinis giganteits: sameas</n/- 
pus, 6. See vinegerone. 
vinaigTOUS (vi-na'grus), a. [< F. vinaigre, vin- 
egar, + -oils.] Sour like vinegar; hence, 
crabbed, peevish, or ill-tempered. 
The fair Palace Dames publicly declare that this La- 
fayette, detestable though he be, is their saviour for 
once. Even the ancient mnaigrous Tantes admit it. 
Carlyle, French Rev., I. vii. 9. 
Vinalia (vi-na'li-a), w. pi. [L., pi. of viiiiilix. 
of or pertaining to wine, < rinum, wine: see 
vine.] In Rom. antiq., a double festival, cele- 
brated on April 22d and on August 19th, at 
which an offering of wine from the vintage of 
the preceding autumn was made to Jupiter. 
Vinaigrette of French work- 
manship. 
