global village

American  

noun

1. the world, especially considered as the home of all nations and peoples living interdependently.

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global village British  

noun

1. the whole world considered as being closely connected by modern telecommunications and as being interdependent economically, socially, and politically

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global village Cultural  

1. A phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan to describe the world that has been “shrunk” by modern advances in communications. McLuhan likened the vast network of communications systems to one extended central nervous system, ultimately linking everyone in the world.

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Etymology

Origin of global village

Term introduced by the book War and Peace in the Global Village (1968) by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore

Example Sentences

People realizing that we’re all part of a global village, that we can unite, and sport is a great way of doing that.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

We’re each assigned a spot in that global village, the homelands reflecting the international nature of the refugee crisis: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia all get competing, squabbling enclaves.

From Washington Post • Mar. 28, 2023

“It’s a global village and everyone can switch on CNN,” Dr. Zuze added.

From New York Times • Dec. 11, 2021

“Right now, both China and the United States are at critical stages of development, and humanity lives in a global village, and we face multiple challenges together,” Xi said.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 16, 2021

If the computer terminal and its operator are members of a global village, as are thousands of other computer users, might that not be considered a society?

From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Schwartau, Winn

Related Words

• computer network
• information technology
• web