village

noun

vil·​lage ˈvi-lij How to pronounce village (audio)
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

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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The format takes place in a remote forest village, where a group of strangers known as the Villagers compete to win a prize, while hidden amongst them are the Werewolves, a secret set plotting to eliminate players one by one and steal the prize. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 15 Oct. 2025 What does the tiny house village include? La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 15 Oct. 2025 In the first days after the earthquake struck, the Taliban shared a stream of videos of their defense forces choppering out the wounded from isolated villages. NPR, 14 Oct. 2025 The sparsely populated villages are more than 400 miles southwest of Anchorage. Alexandra Banner, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for village

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of village was in the 14th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Village.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/village. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

village

noun
vil·​lage ˈvil-ij How to pronounce village (audio)
1
: a place somewhat smaller than a town
2
: the people living in a village

More from Merriam-Webster on village

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