village English · revision 2988

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1386, Chaucer|origins=la villa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈvɪl.ɪdʒ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|village|t=houses and buildings in a group, usually smaller than a town]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|villāticum|t=farmstead with its buildings]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the noun use of [[m|la|villāticus|t=of a farmstead or villa]],^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|villa|t=country house]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source of [[villa]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Merriam-Webster derives the French word from ville “farm, village” and the suffix -age.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A group of houses in the country, larger than a hamlet and smaller than a town: about 1386 in the OED,^(OED 1989) about 1390 in Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'' in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The inhabitants of a village are ''the village'' from before 1529.^(OED 1989) ''Villager'' is from 1570,^(Barnhart 1988) and the adjective use, “of a village”, from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) ''Village idiot'' is recorded from 1825,^(Etymonline) and in the same year London was jocularly called ''the village''.^(OED 1989) A small self-contained district within a city is from 1865,^(Etymonline) as Greenwich Village in New York.^(OED 1989) In some US states a ''village'' is a minor municipality, from 1888.^(OED 1989) A cluster of prairie-dog burrows is a ''village'' from 1808.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – a village.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1529 – the inhabitants.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1570 – ''villager''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1808 – a cluster of animal burrows.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1825 – ''village idiot''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1865 – a district within a city.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1888 – a US minor municipality.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small group of houses in the country, larger than a [[hamlet]] and smaller than a [[town]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In some US states, an incorporated community smaller than a town.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The inhabitants of a village.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A group of animal homes, as of prairie dogs.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[villageless]]

+ * [[villagey]]

+ * [[villager]]

+ * [[villagization]]

+ * [[intervillage]]

+ * [[villagery]]

+ * [[global village]]

+ * [[Potemkin village]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[villa]]

+ * [[wick]]

+ * [[villain]]

+ * [[ville]]

+ * [[villein]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}