Man in village nearby (4)
I believe the answer is:
gene
'man' is the definition.
'in village nearby' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates a hidden word.
'GENE' is hidden within 'village nearby'.
(Other definitions for gene that I've seen before include "Something got from parent < for boy" , "affects someone's make-up" , "___ Kelly, star of Singin' In The Rain, d. 1996" , "Unit of heredity significance" , "Biological factor determining heredity" .)