A village is a population center. It was the ancient Romans who used this word to originally refer to a rural-type settlement for agricultural exploitation. Farm workers lived in these places and were mostly slaves. With the passage of time another modality was introduced, the urban villa, where the owners lived.
It is in the Middle Ages when the current concept of the villa begins to be consolidated. A town was a population center larger than a village but smaller than a city. The cataloging of villa la provided by feudal lords as a distinction and it was normally accompanied by a series of privileges (for example, many towns in Spain are known as Villafranca because in them one could enjoy some exemption in the payment of taxes or other benefits).
To differentiate one town from another, each of them incorporated another term that qualified them in some sense (Villamayor, Villaviciosa, Villamarta, Villarreal…). This denomination is not exclusive to Spain, but also exists in Portugal, Italy and throughout Latin America.
In the Middle Ages, the municipalities that had this denomination were far from the urban centers, as was the case in ancient Rome. For this reason, its inhabitants had other customs and from a religious point of view they practiced pagan cults contrary to Catholicism. This circumstance caused the religious authorities to refer to its inhabitants in a derogatory way and call them villains with a discriminatory tone and not simply in its literal sense, that is, the one who lives or inhabits a villa. Thus, the word villain is currently used as a synonym for delinquent, although it is a term little used and almost in disuse.
The stately villas
A villa is also a type of distinguished home, also known as a stately villa. They are generally palatial in style, that is, they are not a palace but they have a certain resemblance.
Originally, the stately villas were associated with a medieval institution, the lordship (a territory that the monarchs donated as an inheritance to a nobleman for some reason). This ancestral meaning also evolved and nobles and wealthy people began to build their houses using the word villa and with a complementary name (usually with a woman’s name). A distinctive element of some of them is the incorporation of the coat of arms or the family crest in the entrance portico.
In many Spanish cities it is common to find a large mansion with the word villa very visible. Most of them were built before 1940, since from this date another term, chalet, was introduced.
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Lastly, and contrary to the meaning that has been explained so far, somehow trying to express a play on words, in some Latin American countries, in the case of Argentina, this word is used to understand a group of humble dwellings, based on settlements informal.
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