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• village
  village

  noun

  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.
• Village
  Village

  noun

  The, a city in central Oklahoma.

village

¹ American  

[vil-ij] / ˈvɪl ɪdʒ /

noun

• villages
  plural

1. 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.

2. the inhabitants of such a community collectively.

3. a group of animal dwellings resembling a village.

   a gopher village.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a village.

   village life.

Village ² American  

[vil-ij] / ˈvɪl ɪdʒ /

noun

1. The, a city in central Oklahoma.

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village British  

/ ˈvɪlɪdʒ /

noun

1. a small group of houses in a country area, larger than a hamlet

2. the inhabitants of such a community collectively

3. an incorporated municipality smaller than a town in various parts of the US and Canada

4. a group of habitats of certain animals

5. a self-contained city area having its own shops, etc

6. (modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of a village

   a village green

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Synonym Usage

See community.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intervillage
  adjective
• village-like
  adjective
• villageless
  adjective
• villagey
  adjective
• villagy
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• villages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of village

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin villāticum, neuter of villāticus villatic

Explanation

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

village Village villages

Many returned to their home village when things calmed down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

The BBC visited Lawat's village Betrawati just days after the disaster, once the roads to the district of Rasuwa had been cleared.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Ashtiyeh and another AFP photographer, John Wessels, were near the northern village of Aqraba where they noticed an Israeli soldier detaining a man as local Palestinians picked olives.

From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026

Lawat survived because he was driving his bus outside his village, Betrawati.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

As a teenager, Joan was visited by three saints—Michael, Catherine, and Margaret—as she worked the fields of her small village in rural France.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

They have been based at Rodington Village Hall, near Shrewsbury, for 25 years but think the telescope will raise interest in astronomy.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

The Jennifer Meyer shop has reopened in Palisades Village after the 2025 fires, marking a homecoming for the L.A. native jewelry designer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Palisades Village shopping center reopens 19 months after the devastating 2025 Pacific Palisades wildfires, marking a major milestone in local recovery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

“A large bedroom and full bathroom complete this gorgeous Greenwich Village retreat,” the listing adds.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

Our team moved out of the Olympic Village a couple of days later and checked into the Grand Hyatt hotel.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

From villages deep in the Amazon rainforest to the agricultural heartlands in the south and sprawling urban favelas, Brazilians are facing a familiar cast -- with many forced to pick who they least dislike.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Formed in 2022, the "Mamas", as they call themselves, are spread over a dozen villages in the Ketapang regency of rural Kalimantan -- the name for Indonesia's part of Borneo.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

Officials say the last child death was more than two weeks before their late-September assessment, while teams continue visiting villages.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Ingenia, which owns retirement villages and holiday parks in Australia, said Monday that the New York-based private-equity group had raised its indicative all-cash offer to 5.25 Australian dollars a share, equivalent to US$3.69.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

The quake had wrecked parts of downtown Anchorage and towns and villages across Alaska.

From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis

Related Words

• center
• suburb