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.
While we were talking, we saw smoke rising from the village fields.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
When visitors disembark the train, they head to an area inspired by Hogsmeade, a village that sits outside Hogwarts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
We spent a week around al-Mughayyir, and its neighbouring village, Khirbet Abu Falah, to see what life was like here for a single community, or a single family.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
"I think the army has proved its success because people have started to return and they are comfortable with its presence in the village," Sbeih, 62, said as he waited at a bakery there.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
One day when Karel was in the village, Willem came out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee in his hands.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
In 1960, they were in New York City’s Greenwich Village when the Weavers’ Ronnie Gilbert invited my father to a living wake for the ailing folk singer Cisco Houston.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The Green fire was reported shortly before 5:45 p.m. on a steep slope along Highway 38 near Mountain Home Village.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
In 2020, as the film industry slowed down because of COVID-19, Weger took a chance and opened the Curatorial Dept., a vintage and designer resale shop in Atwater Village.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The report said: "Emmerdale Village was designed to include everything a typical rural village would have, including a village hall, café, church, residential dwellings and more."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Noah's mother had taped the press conference and sent it to Noah's Grandma Sadie and Grandpa Nate who, in turn, shared it with everyone in the clubhouse at Century Village.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
This is what passes for a normal weekend now in al-Mughayyir, and in villages across the West Bank, but it rarely breaks beyond the local news.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
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
Some 55,000 people were ordered to leave villages around Bordeaux in the Gironde region during the night as flames from the wildfire spread.
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 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
They just walked over the mountains and showed up to sleep in the town squares of Italian villages, washing their clothes in the fountains and begging up and down the porticoes.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
