Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HAM'LET, n. [Sax. ham, a house; Fr. hamcau; Arm. hamell or hamm. See Home.]

A small village; a little cluster of houses in the country. This word seems originally to have signified the seat of a freeholder, comprehending the mansion house and adjacent buildings. It now denotes a small collection of houses in the country, in distinction from a city, a large town or township. The country wasted and the hamlets burned. Dryden.