different between villain vs nemesis

English

Alternative forms

• villan (archaic)

Etymology

Probably from Middle English villein, from Old French vilein (modern French vilain), in turn from Late Latin villanus, meaning serf or peasant, someone who is bound to the soil of a Latin villa, which is to say, worked on the equivalent of a plantation in late Antiquity, in Italy or Gaul.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?v?l?n/
• Rhymes: -?l?n

Noun

villain (plural villains, feminine villainess)

1. (Can we clean up⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) A vile, wicked person.
   1. An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes.
   2. A deliberate scoundrel.
2. In fiction, a character who has the role of being bad, especially antagonizing the hero.

   Synonyms: antagonist; see also Thesaurus:villain

   • July 18 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises[2]

     As The Dark Knight Rises brings a close to Christopher Nolan’s staggeringly ambitious Batman trilogy, it’s worth remembering that director chose The Scarecrow as his first villain—not necessarily the most popular among the comic’s gallery of rogues, but the one who set the tone for entire series.

3. (poker) Any opponent player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: hero (“the current player”).

4. Archaic form of villein.

Synonyms

• knave
• rascal
• scamp
• cad
• See also Thesaurus:villain
• See also Thesaurus:troublemaker

Derived terms

• anti-villain
• supervillain
• villainess
• villainise / villainize

Related terms

• villein

Translations

Verb

villain (third-person singular simple present villains, present participle villaining, simple past and past participle villained)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To debase; to degrade.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir T. More to this entry?)

Further reading

• villain on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Villani, villian

Finnish

Alternative forms

• villojen

Noun

villain

1. Genitive plural form of villa.

Anagrams

• villani

Old French

Noun

villain m (oblique plural villainz, nominative singular villainz, nominative plural villain)

1. Alternative form of vilain

English

Etymology

From the Greek goddess of retribution Nemesis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?m?s?s/

Noun

nemesis (plural nemeses)

1. (chiefly Canada, US) An archenemy

2. (chiefly non-North American usage) A person or character who specifically brings about the downfall of another person or character.
3. The principle of retributive justice.
4. (usually in the singular, formal) A punishment or defeat that is deserved and cannot be avoided.
5. The polar opposite of a character.
6. A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent.

Coordinate terms

• antagonist
• villain
• rival
• bane
• archenemy
• adversary

Derived terms

• archnemesis
• chocolate nemesis
• nemetic

Translations

Anagrams

• Meissen, Semiens, misseen, siemens

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?ne.me.sis/, [?n?m?s??s?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?ne.me.sis/, [?n??m?s?is]

Noun

nemesis f (genitive nemesis or nemese?s or nemesios); third declension

1. nemesis

Declension

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, i-stem, i-stem).

¹Found sometimes in Medieval and New Latin.

Descendants

• Italian: nemesi
• Swedish: nemesis