village

noun

vil·​lage ˈvi-lij 

often attributive

1

a

: a settlement usually larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town

b

: an incorporated minor municipality

2

: the residents of a village

3

: something (such as an aggregation of burrows or nests) suggesting a village

4

: a territorial area having the status of a village especially as a unit of local government

Synonyms

• hamlet

Examples of village in a Sentence

Entire villages come to see the parade.

we stayed in a charming bed-and-breakfast in a lakeside village

Recent Examples on the Web

Paul Blount, the director of public safety for the village of Palmyra, said in an email that the application will undergo local and federal review. —Sophie Carson, jsonline.com, 24 Sep. 2025

The village is next to Gyeongbokgung Palace, the backdrop to Jinu’s bad boy character-building flashbacks. —Ali Wunderman, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2025

One is to take a round-trip boat cruise across it, passing lakeside hamlets and villages atop steep mountainsides. —AFAR Media, 24 Sep. 2025

The swamp, however, sits along the road to the village of Riacho and sees a significant amount of human use, researchers said. —Lauren Liebhaber september 23, Miami Herald, 23 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French vilage, from vil manorial estate, farmstead, from Latin villa

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing village

• global village
• inter-village
• Potemkin village

Rhymes for village

• millage
• pillage
• spillage

Kids Definition

village

noun

vil·​lage ˈvil-ij 

1

: a place somewhat smaller than a town

2

: the people living in a village