a small community or group of houses in a rural area, larger than a hamlet and usually smaller than a town, and sometimes (as in parts of the U.S.) incorporated as a municipality.
the inhabitants of such a community collectively.
a group of animal dwellings resembling a village.
a gopher village.
a small group of houses in a country area, larger than a hamlet
the inhabitants of such a community collectively
an incorporated municipality smaller than a town in various parts of the US and Canada
a group of habitats of certain animals
a self-contained city area having its own shops, etc
(modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of a village
a village green
See community.
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin villāticum, neuter of villāticus villatic
A village is a place where people live that's smaller than a city or town. The village where your grandparents live might have a population of only a few hundred people. In the US, some towns, townships, and cities have smaller villages communities within them. There are also villages that are independent of any larger areas. In either case, a village is typically larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town. The majority of Indians live in villages, while in other countries (like Russia and the UK) population has moved to big cities and suburbs, away from traditional villages. The Latin source of village is villa, or "farm."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Wildfires have turned the village of Casavieja, west of Madrid, into a "car cemetery"
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Old Westminster set up outdoor igloos during the pandemic, then replaced them with a modernist village of A-frame “cabanas.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The story - or myth - goes, that following their last win in 1951 the Mayo team's boisterous celebrations on an open-back lorry interrupted a funeral in the village of Foxford.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Olga Congacha, 50, who had to flee her village of Robledo de Chavela west of Madrid with hastily grabbed documents and clothes, told AFP she felt "panicked" when told to leave her home.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
He scoured the village and found a sled and five dogs.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
The production put her up in a Greenwich Village apartment and when it ended, she moved to the East Village.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
In his time as the MP for Leigh, Burnham was a driving force behind the construction of Leigh Sports Village.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Part two of the novel shifts downtown, into the heart of the ’80s East Village art scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Owens would help the Mount Orab Village Council impose a moratorium on data centers in late March that would pause the project for six months.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
In ambience, although not in content, Bókin reminded him of Dr. Albrecht Buschke’s chess bookstore in Greenwich Village, the one he’d visited as a child and as a young man.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
The corps was far more numerous than the populations of the villages on its route; its ravages cleaned out food stores that local peoples counted on for survival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Since the deadly clash on Friday in Tal, Palestinians say that there have been multiple settler attacks on villages across the West Bank.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
We began investigating this underworld for the BBC Radio 4 podcast Dead Rabbit after the bodies of dead hares and other animals were mysteriously dumped in two picturesque Hampshire villages in 2024.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
"All our friends and neighbours have come from different towns and villages," she said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
It was just one of those small towns and villages that used to be under a nobleman's protection.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
