Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A hamlet or village; also, a manor; a parish; the outpart of a parish. (See village, 2.) In old writings mention is made of entire vilis, demi-vills, and hamlets.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A small collection of houses; a village.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the smallest administrative unit of land in feudal England, corresponding to the Anglo-Saxon tithing and the modern parish
  • verb Eye dialect spelling of will.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman vill, from Old French vile ("farm, country estate") (French ville ("town")), from Latin villa.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From will

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Examples

  • And ven my moder come dare, ce go to ze man vot have said _ze vord_, and ce tell him dot he vill let my fader go, he vill, _he vill_!

    Stories of Childhood Various 1885

  • And Dad's Army, 'I am making a list and your name vill be ze first, vot is it?'

    On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2008

  • "Your name vill also go in the book .... vot is it?"

    Chelsea Blog 2009

  • In these times, I also came into Saxony out of the furthest coasts of Western Britain; and when I had proposed to go to him through many intervening provinces, I arrived in the country of the Saxons, who live on the right hand, which in Saxon is called Sussex, under the guidance of some of that nation; and there I first saw him in the royal vill, which is called Dene.

    The Life of King Alfred Giles, J. A. 1847

  • But what did the ol 'vill'n do but begin to sniff aroun'; an 'he sniffed an' he sniffed till he says: 'Ingua, what chick'n did ye kill, an' why did ye kill it? '

    Mary Louise in the Country J. Allen St. [Illustrator] John 1887

  • "I'm from the 'vill', never ran, never will," says Bashir with a tinge of pride.

    Blogs navigation 2009

  • "vill," was an easy prey to the Irish, Danes, and other pirates, who devastated the diocese from time to time.

    Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Exeter A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See Percy Addleshaw 1891

  • So the knights were bestowed in a "vill" near by; "and the next day the venerable king himself went forth to see those knights, and caused them to stand, and march before him, both with arms, and without.

    Hereward, the Last of the English Charles Kingsley 1847

  • When I was in Vietnam I used to do a lot of recon work, and next thing you know I was back in the bush, reconning a vill again.

    Brigid Brett: Small Ceremonies Brigid Brett 2011

  • When I was in Vietnam I used to do a lot of recon work, and next thing you know I was back in the bush, reconning a vill again.

    Brigid Brett: Small Ceremonies Brigid Brett 2011

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