Waldkirch, Switzerland in the context of "St. Gallen (canton)"

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.

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.