Villainously Yours Trivia Quiz

Answer: farmhand

The word "villain" originally meant someone who worked on the soil of a "villa" (a large farmhouse in Roman times), called "villanus" in Late Latin. The Old French "vilain" became "villein" in English - denoting someone who was not a knight, therefore lacking both the manners and the ethics of chivalry. Not surprisingly, in English "villain" became a term of abuse, and eventually became synonymous with a wicked, unprincipled person (a meaning that also exists in Spanish). On the other hand, in French "vilain" has come to mean ugly or nasty, while the Italian "villano" means rude or boorish - which bears some relation to the word's original meaning.

In works of fiction, the villain is a stock character whose evil motives or actions are important for the development of the plot. William Shakespeare's plays are famous for their memorable villains, such as Iago in "Othello", or Richard III in the play of the same name.

Answer: rogue

On the blurbs of many romance novels - especially those set during the ever-popular Regency period - the word rogue (or synonyms such as scoundrel, rascal, or knave) appears as a description of the hero. These dangerous yet intriguing masculine characters are inevitably fated to be redeemed by the love of a fair lady. The original meaning of rogue, however, may be somewhat less glamorous: it is believed to have derived from "roger" (with a hard "g"), as a word for "wandering beggar" (from the Latin "rogare", meaning "to ask").

In modern English usage, "rogue" is often encountered as an adjective meaning uncontrolled, undisciplined. When applied to animals (especially elephants), it generally denotes a male that lives away from the herd, and is particularly aggressive and unpredictable. Another distinctive usage of rogue is in the expression "rogues' gallery", meaning a collection of mug shots.

Answer: unbeliever

Miscreant comes from the Old French "mescreant", in turn derived from the Latin verb "credere" ("to believe"). Originally an adjective that meant disbelieving, in the Middle English period this word denoted a non-Christian, thus synonymous with infidel or heathen.

In those times, someone who did not believe in God, or held heretical beliefs, was considered a bad person - hence the word's current negative connotation, which dates from the late 16th century. In modern French, "mécréant" has kept its original meaning of unbeliever, as has the Italian "miscredente".

Answer: assassin

Assassin comes from the Arabic "hashishin", meaning "hashish eater". The original Assassins were the members of a sect of Shia Islam, whose leader was known as the "Old Man in the Mountain", active in present-day Iran at the time of the Crusades. The belief that the members of this sect consumed hashish before committing their crimes stems from Marco Polo's account of his travels in Asia, though Polo's book makes no explicit mention of hashish. The connection with the drug may be due to a mispronunciation of the sect's name.

The word assassin came into English from Italian around the 16th century; in 14th-century Italy, "assassino" had a very similar meaning to hitman - i.e. somebody who kills others for money. In modern English, assassin describes the killer of a high-profile figure - generally a monarch or a politician - just like the original Assassins targeted political leaders who were considered enemies of their state.

Answer: libertine

While all these words would be apt descriptions of the characters mentioned in the question, libertine is certainly the most accurate. Whereas the original libertines were those who opposed the policies of religious reformer John Calvin in 16th-century Geneva, in the 17th and 18th centuries the word came to denote a philosophy whose adherents rejected moral principles and restraints, and devoted themselves to the pursuit of pleasure (especially, but not exclusively, sexual). A number of historical figures, artists and writers (such as the ones mentioned in the question) have been associated with libertinism. Interestingly, though, the word libertine comes from the Latin "libertinus", meaning "relating to the condition of a freedman".

A very English synonym of libertine is the word rake (as in William Hogarth's famous series of paintings, "A Rake's Progress"), a shortened form of the rather descriptive "rakehell", and another favourite of Regency romance authors.

Answer: despot

In Ancient Greek, "despotes" meant "master of the house"; in the Byzantine era, the term was applied to rulers of vassal states, and was used as an honorific. The current, pejorative meaning of "autocratic ruler" developed much later, around the early 17th century. The word is now used as a synonym of tyrant or dictator in a historical or political context, or as a derogatory epithet for anyone who behaves high-handedly - such as a sports coach or a boss at work.

Of the three words listed as wrong answers, dastard is a synonym of coward, desperado is an outlaw in the Old West, and delinquent (often used as an adjective) someone who fails to perform a duty required by law.

Answer: hooligan

Generally used to describe violent football (soccer) fans, hooligan is believed to have derived from the surname of a rowdy Irish family (alternatively spelled "Houlihan" or "Hoolihan") that appeared in a popular music hall song of the 1890s. According to other sources, the word comes from the name of a London-based Irish criminal, Patrick Hooligan. In any case, in the late 19th century the word became widely used in journalism to describe violent and destructive behaviour, while in the late 20th century it became almost exclusively associated with sports. The three wrong answers have similar meanings, but lack the connection with sports that "hooligan" possesses.

A Russian transliteration of hooligan, "khuligan", was used in Soviet Russia for any kind of behaviour that went against the law - including political dissent. Because of its purported Irish origin, "hooligan" has occasionally been considered an ethnic slur, related to the stereotyping of Irish people as rowdy and disreputable.

Answer: mugger

Though piracy is a type of criminal activity, thanks to a long tradition of literature, music and film pirates have acquired a certain aura of glamour. There is, however, nothing glamorous or swashbuckling about muggers - disreputable characters who attack and rob other people in the street or other public places. The word is an agent noun from the verb "to mug", believed to be a boxing term meaning "to strike in the face" (mug being, among other things, a colloquial word for face).

Interestingly, "mugger" is also the name of a large Indian crocodile (Crocodylus palustris). However, though a crocodile is undeniably a fearsome predator, this name has a very different origin, as it comes from the Sanskrit "makara", meaning "water monster".

Answer: thug

From the Hindi "thag" (swindler), "thug" originally denoted a member of Thuggee, a secret cult of worshippers of the fearsome goddess Kali that roamed the Indian countryside, robbing travellers and then strangling them with a noose-like implement. In modern English, the word has lost any connection to religion, and is now applied to people who behave in a brutal, uncivilized manner - much like the other words listed as incorrect answers.

While punk has also come to denote a popular genre of rock music, vandal (which generally applies to people who willfully damage or destroy buildings and other objects) has an even older connection to history than thug, being the name of a Germanic people that sacked Rome in the 5th century AD.

Answer: quack

Although all these words describe objectionable, dishonest behaviour (a fink is an informer or a strikebreaker), only quack has to do with faking one's medical credentials. Short for "quacksalver", a 16th-century word of Dutch origin, quack - odd as it may sound - is related to the word that describes the sound made by a duck: in Dutch, "kwaken" means "to croak", and a "kwakzalver" was somebody who hawked their wares in the market with a loud voice.

Words of similar meaning, though not as precise, are charlatan and mountebank, or the very apt phrase "snake oil salesman". Unfortunately, in spite of all the progress made by the world in the past one hundred years, quackery is still alive and well thanks to the Internet.