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.
Wildfires have turned the village of Casavieja, west of Madrid, into a "car cemetery"
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Old Westminster set up outdoor igloos during the pandemic, then replaced them with a modernist village of A-frame “cabanas.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Although the village was evacuated on Friday, Clivaz said he and his family were trying to hold out.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
"Everyone had to get out of the village quickly, it was a critical situation and people were scared," Olga Congacha told AFP news agency.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
There was a part in the book where Essa healed a bunch of sick children, and, in payment, one of the village boys had tried to join her on her quest.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
Only the diner remains but Morton still plans on touring the Village with Teddy, showing off all of mom’s old haunts and, yes, having a cup of soup at the Waverly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The production put her up in a Greenwich Village apartment and when it ended, she moved to the East Village.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
In his time as the MP for Leigh, Burnham was a driving force behind the construction of Leigh Sports Village.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Owens would help the Mount Orab Village Council impose a moratorium on data centers in late March that would pause the project for six months.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
I followed Red down the mountainside and through The Village.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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
Authorities say winds were pushing the wildfires near Madrid to the south and away from the capital, but have forced the evacuation of more villages in its path.
From BBC ● 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
Rapidly spreading blazes have forced authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of people from the swanky Cap Ferret peninsula and surrounding villages, in one of the largest evacuation operations ever conducted in France.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
The kilns in the neighbouring villages were kept busy firing the bricks, but their output was insufficient, and the carts had to go farther afield, returning dusty and brick-filled.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
