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
Synonym Usage
See community.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing village
Africa - Introductory
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Africa - Middle School
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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.
“I saw my goal as filling in for the ‘village’ to support moms in the vulnerable postnatal period.”
From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2022
The unit of Cossack life for 400 years has been the 'village' and it was Ataman Bogayevsky who made New York a Cossack village.
From Time Magazine Archive
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As to the book, it's a book made to go east and west; it's a popular book with flowers from the 'village' laid freshly and brightly between the critical leaves.
From The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume II by Kenyon, Frederic G. (Frederic George), Sir
I was the property of a poor fisherman, who lived in a hut belonging to a cluster of storm-beaten cots, called by great courtesy, the 'village' of Rocksand, in Devonshire.
From Tales of the Toys, Told by Themselves by Broderip, Frances Freeling
No; they just call it 'C—,' and, what's more, they put 'village' into inverted commas.
From Foe-Farrell by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir
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.