Kampung_ “inhabited place larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town,” from Old French village “houses and other buildings in a group” (usually smaller than a town), from Latin villaticum “farmstead” (with outbuildings), noun use of neuter sing. of villaticus “having to do with a farmstead or villa,” from villa “country house”. Village idiot is recorded from 1907/etymology dictionary/

In Malaysia, the term kampung (sometimes spelling kampong) in the English language has been defined specifically as “a Malay hamlet or village in a Malay-speaking country”.[4] In other words, a kampung is defined today as a village in Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. In Malaysia, a kampung is determined as a locality with 10,000 or fewer people. Since historical times, every Malay village came under the leadership of a penghulu (village chief), who has the power to hear civil matters in his village (see Courts of Malaysia for more details). A Malay village typically contains a “masjid” (mosque) or “surau” (Muslim chapel), paddy fields and Malay houses on stilts. Malay and Indonesian villagers practice the culture of helping one another as a community, which is better known as “joint bearing of burdens” (gotong royong),[5] as well as being family-oriented (especially the concept of respecting one’s family [particularly the parents and elders]), courtesy and believing in God (“Tuhan”) as paramount to everything else. It is common to see a cemetery near the mosque, as all Muslims in the Malay or Indonesian village want to be prayed for, and to receive Allah’s blessings in the afterlife. While in Sarawak and East Kalimantan, some villages are called ‘long’, primarily inhabited by the Orang Ulu. Singapore also follows the Malaysian kampung. However, there are only a few kampung villages remaining, mostly on islands surrounding Singapore such as Pulau Ubin. In the past, there were many kampung villages in Singapore but now there aren’t many on the mainland. The term “kampung”, sometimes spelled “kampong” is one of many Malay words to have entered common usage in Malaysia and Singapore. Locally, the term is frequently used to refer to one’s hometown.