Vĭl'lage, n.

n. [Fr. village, Pr. vilatge, Sp. village, Pg. villagem, It. villaggio, from Lat. villa, q. v.] A small inhabited place; an assemblage of houses in the country, less than a town or city, and inhabited chiefly by farmers and other laboring people.

Synonyms— VILLAGE, HAMLET, TOWN, CITY. In England, a hamlet denotes a collection of houses too small to have a parish church. A village has a church, but no market. A town has both a market and a church or churches. A city is, in the legal sense, an incorporated borough town, which is, or has been, the place of a bishop’s see. It is hardly necessary to say that the last three words have a different acceptation in the United States.

These were thy charms, sweet village; sports like these, With sweet succession, taught e’en toil to please. Goldsmith.

Sometimes, with secure delight, The upland hamlets will invite. Milton.

The policy of Europe has been more favorable to the industry of towns than to agriculture, the industry of the country. A. Smith.

A city is a town incorporated, which is, or has been, the see of a bishop; and though the bishopric hath been dissolved, as at Westminster, it yet remaineth a city. Blackstone.