# village

Pronunciation: say "VIL-ij" /ˈvɪlɪd͡ʒ/

## Noun

1. A group of houses and other buildings in a rural area, larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town; in Britain, traditionally one with a church but no market.
   - Simple: A small group of houses and other buildings in the countryside, bigger than a hamlet but smaller than a town.
   - _The village had grown up around an old mill beside the river._
   - _Several villages dot the valley between the two mountain ranges._
2. A planned residential or commercial development designed as a self-contained community, such as a retirement village, a gated subdivision, or a purpose-built shopping district.
   - Simple: A planned group of homes or shops built as one community, like a retirement village or a gated housing area.
   - _The developers marketed the gated retirement village as a self-contained community._
   - _Tourists flock to the outlet village for discounted designer brands._

## Origin

Latin villa (the source of English villa) is the ultimate source, through Latin villāticus, Old French village and Middle English village. The word largely took over from the Old English words wic, þorp and ham.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/village (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).