subs. (old cant).—A town: cf. Fr. ville. Hence ROMEVILE = London (see RUM, adj. 1): DEUCE-A-VILE = the country: also DEAUSEAVILLE and DAISYVILLE.
1567. HARMAN, A Caveat or Warening for Common Cursetors, 86. Byng we to ROME-VYLE.
1612. DEKKER, O per se O. ‘Bing out, Bien morts.’
| Bing out bien morts, and toure and toure, | |
| bing out of the ROME-VILE. |
1622. R. HEAD, The English Rogue.
| And prig and cloy so benshiply, | |
| all the DEWSE-A-VILE within. |
1834. W. H. AINSWORTH, Rookwood (1864), 199. I want a little ready cash in RUMVILLE—beg pardon, ma’am, London, I mean.
1891. F. W. CAREW, No. 747. being the Autobiography of a Gipsy, 416. We made a long round back to VILE. Ibid., 417. The VILE’S readered all hover with these ’ere stiffs.
