The third act in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet starts with Tybalt searching for Romeo among his friends, Benvolio and Mercutio. Mercutio is giving Tybalt a difficult time when Romeo approaches them. Tybalt turns to Romeo and says the following:
"Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford
No better term than this: thou art a villain" (III.i.59-60).
Tybalt is basically saying that there's no way he could ever be Romeo's friend because he thinks Romeo is a villain. Today, Tybalt may have called him a jerk, or a party-crasher, because not only is Romeo a Montague (a rival family), but he crashed the Capulet party the night before and Tybalt wants revenge for that. He feels that it was the greatest insult for enemies to come uninvited to his uncle's party. Tybalt wanted to throw Romeo and his friends out of the party the night before, but Lord Capulet wouldn't allow the disruption during his party. As a result, Tybalt shows up the next day to deal out Romeo's punishment. In order to get a fight going, then, Tybalt calls Romeo a villain with the hopes that this will entice him to fight.
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