noun
hamlet
HAM-liht
noun
1
A very small settlement, smaller than a village, often just a cluster of houses without its own church or local government.
"The road wound through a tiny hamlet of no more than a dozen cottages."
"They spent the night in a quiet hamlet in the Cotswolds."
How to Use Hamlet
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA tiny settlement, smaller than a village.
Common mistake
Capitalized "Hamlet" refers to Shakespeare's Danish prince and his famous play — a different word entirely from the lowercase settlement.
Common pairings
a small hamlet
a sleepy hamlet
a remote hamlet
Word Forms
hamlets plural
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The road wound through a tiny _____ of no more than a dozen cottages.
Etymology
From Old French hamelet, a diminutive of hamel, itself a diminutive of ham ("home, village"), ultimately from the same Germanic root as the English word "home."