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vill

A small collection of houses; a village. Every manor, town, or vill. Not 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. Later, the term was applied only to a collection of houses more than two, and hence came to comprehend towns. Burrill. The statute of Exeter, 14 Edward I, mentions entire-vills, demivills, and hamlets.

Origin: OF. Ville, vile, a village, F. Ville a town, city. See Villa.