village
1 Americannoun
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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.
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the inhabitants of such a community collectively.
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a group of animal dwellings resembling a village.
a gopher village.
adjective
noun
noun
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a small group of houses in a country area, larger than a hamlet
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the inhabitants of such a community collectively
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an incorporated municipality smaller than a town in various parts of the US and Canada
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a group of habitats of certain animals
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a self-contained city area having its own shops, etc
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(modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of a village
a village green
Related Words
See community.
Other Word Forms
- intervillage adjective
- village-like adjective
- villageless adjective
- villagey adjective
- villagy adjective
Etymology
Origin of village
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin villāticum, neuter of villāticus villatic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The village recently imposed a six-month pause on data centers following community pushback.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
Are there reasons to think that your retirement village may not continue in its current form?
From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026
Eardley, who was born in England in 1921 and moved to Scotland as a teenager, is known for her depictions of Glasgow's street children and the coastal landscapes of Catterline, an Aberdeenshire fishing village.
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
He added that the Lebanese army withdrew from its position above the village at the beginning of the war, despite entreaties by residents for it to remain.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026
I had to stop for the night, and I couldn’t rely on the hope that I might find a farm or a village soon.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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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.