Jump To:

• 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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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

A goat herder from a remote area of western Kenya has told the BBC his discovery of a golden nugget has sparked a gold rush, overwhelming his small village over the last few weeks.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Archaeologists think it could have reached the village through trade with communities in St. Augustine or present-day Jacksonville.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

In 1606, Spain sent a friar to the Potano village to establish a mission.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

In the village of Budry, cows and horses grazing in the rolling fields give little hint of the heavily militarised Kaliningrad exclave next door.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

We run out of the village north with the sun coming up on our right, heading north again, the only direction, and it is the end of day twelve.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

The landscape designer Sebastian Trujillo negotiated an informal agreement to share content on the job after being hired by filmmaker Fabiola Beracasa Beckman to work on her Greenwich Village townhouse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Bigelow, a Greenwich Village pharmacy that made the plastic headbands Bessette was so fond of, reported a 500% sales increase since 2023, and Selima Optique have rereleased the style Bessette wore because of popular demand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

"They haven't received aid yet because Nitung Village was isolated for nearly two days after the quake," he said, noting that efforts were underway to rush aid to the survivors.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

On Saturday, the Westside community marked a long overdue milestone for fire-weary residents: the reopening of the Palisades Village shopping center.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

Everyone in the Olympic Village was constantly exercising, because we all had to be in the best shape of our lives.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles

Many villages are located near waterways, while poor roads and a lack of bridges can make travel by land difficult.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Riders on powerful electric motorbikes are intimidating pedestrians, damaging property and putting people at risk by riding dangerously through towns and villages, communities have warned.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

The fire triggered evacuation orders in the German border town of Monschau as well as two Belgian villages, although residents of the hamlet of Sourbrodt have been given the green light to return home.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

LA28 will host the Olympic and Paralympic villages at UCLA.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

The families of most of the seamstresses had immigrated from country villages in Italy, Poland, and Russia, just as the Irish had come fifty years before, hoping for a better life in America.

From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell

Related Words

• center
• suburb