villeinage : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: villeinage	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for villeinage
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
villeinage n the legal status or condition of servitude of a villein or feudal serf Synonym(s): villeinage, villainage tenure by which a villein held land
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Villanage \Vil"lan*age\ (?; 48), n. [OF. villenage, vilenage. See {Villain}.] 1. (Feudal Law) The state of a villain, or serf; base servitude; tenure on condition of doing the meanest services for the lord. [In this sense written also {villenage}, and {villeinage}.] I speak even now as if sin were condemned in a perpetual villanage, never to be manumitted. --Milton. Some faint traces of villanage were detected by the curious so late as the days of the Stuarts. --Macaulay. 2. Baseness; infamy; villainy. [Obs.] --Dryden.