A village is a small community of people living together, usually in the countryside. Villages are smaller than towns or cities, with perhaps a few hundred to a few thousand residents. In a village, people often know most of their neighbors by name, and there might be just one school, one store, or one place of worship serving everyone.

Throughout history, most people lived in villages. Farmers worked the surrounding fields and came home each evening. Craftspeople like blacksmiths, bakers, and weavers lived alongside them. Villages formed naturally wherever people found good farmland, fresh water, and safety. Even today, billions of people worldwide live in villages, though many villages have grown into towns or been absorbed by expanding cities.

When you read historical novels or fairy tales, you'll often encounter villages: the small communities where ordinary people lived their lives, celebrated together, and helped each other through difficult times.

People sometimes use village figuratively. You might hear someone say “it takes a village” when describing how raising children or completing a big project requires many people working together, like how villagers traditionally relied on each other for everything from harvesting crops to building barns.