Tuesday 21 January 2014

Ville

Ville is the contemporary French word of Latin origin now meaning "city" or "town", but the first meaning in the middle-ages was "farm" and then "village". The derivative suffix -ville is usually used in English in names of cities, towns and villages.

Derived words

  • Hooverville — a region where homeless people usually lived during the Great Depression
  • Village — another loanword from French employed for a settlement that was larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town
  • villain — feudal serf, peasant cultivator in subjection to a lord
  • villein — the same word used by contemporary historians