Vill, n.

n. [O. Fr. ville, vile, a village, N. Fr. ville, a town, city, Pr. vila, Sp., Pg., & It. villa, from Lat. villa, a country-house, farm.] A small collection of houses; a village. Hale.

Nor should e'er the crested fowl From thorp or vill his matins sound for me. Wordsworth.

☞ A word of various significations in English law; as, a manor; a tithing; a town; a township; a parish; a part of a parish; a village. The original meaning of vill, in England, seems to have been derived from the Roman sense of the term villa, a single country residence or farm; a manor. The term, however, was applied to any collection of houses more than two, and hence came to comprehend towns and cities. Burvill. The statute of Exeter, 14 Edward I., mentions entire-vills, demi-vills, and hamlets.