Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement.

Sometimes a hamlet is defined for official or administrative purposes. In that case, its size relative to a parish or other administrative unit will depend on the administration and region.

The word and concept of a hamlet can be traced back to Norman England, where the Old French hamelet came to apply to small human settlements.