From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
hamlet
n 1: a community of people smaller than a village [syn:
crossroads]
2: the hero of William Shakespeare's tragedy who hoped to
avenge the murder of his father [syn: Hamlet]
3: a settlement smaller than a town [syn: village]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Hamlet \Ham"let\ (h[a^]m"l[e^]t), n. [OE. hamelet, OF. hamelet,
dim. of hamel, F. hameau, LL. hamellum, a dim. of German
origin; cf. G. heim home. [root]220. See Home.]
A small village; a little cluster of houses in the country.
[1913 Webster]
The country wasted, and the hamlets burned. --Dryden.
Syn: Village; neighborhood. See Village.
[1913 Webster]