I. səˈsīəd.]ē, sōˈ-, -īət], ]i\ noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle French societé, from Latin societat-, societas, from socie- (from socius companion) + -tat-, -tas -ty — more at social
1.
a. : companionship or association with one's fellows : friendly or intimate intercourse : company
what are lobster and claret compared with the society of those we love — W.S.Gilbert
b. : one's friends or companions : acquaintances
widen his range of feminine society , hitherto restricted — Richard Sullivan
2. archaic : the quality or state of being connected : relationship
3.
a. : a voluntary association of individuals for common ends ; especially : an organized group living or working together or periodically meeting or worshiping together because of a community of interests or beliefs or a common profession : a corporate or cooperative body
a society of lawyers
an agricultural society
the Royal Society
b.
(1) : an ecclesiastical division of a town in colonial New England — called also precinct
(2) : a Congregationalist corporation connected with a local church in the United States and having control of the ownership of the church buildings as well as the determination and payment of the minister's salary — called also parish
c. Roman, civil & Scots law : an association organized under law for some recognized civil or business purpose and having various forms (as of a corporation, a general partnership, a limited partnership, or a community property entity) — compare commandite , socié t é anonyme
d. : an association or fraternity among nonliterate peoples ; especially : one functioning as an esoteric or ritualistic organization
the medicine societies of the No. American Indians
the leopard society of West Africa
4.
a. : an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another ; also : the complex structure of social institutions of such a group
b. : a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests
c. : an international social order or community of societies and institutions
a society of nations
the ideal of a Christian world society
d. : an autonomous nonliterate or peasant group possessing a distinct cultural heritage
a primitive society in New Guinea
5.
a. : a community made up of an aggregate of persons : those who are responsible for the prevailing social order
when I say society I mean more than people; I mean people bound together for an end — V.S.Pritchett
b. : a part of a community that is a unit distinguishable by particular aims or standards of living or conduct : a social circle or a group of social circles having a clearly marked identity
move in polite society
in the judgment of good society
literary society
musical society
c. : a part of the community that sets itself apart as a leisure class and that regards itself as the arbiter of fashion and manners
in most towns and smaller cities there is an early discernible social pattern with a local society on top — F.L.Allen
introduced to society at a formal reception
snubbed by society
6.
a.
(1) : a unit assemblage of plants within an association or consociation characterized by a single species or a common habit
the alder society within the sugar maple consociation
an herbaceous society in open woodland
(2) : association 8
b. : the progeny of a pair of insect parents when constituting a social unit (as a hive of bees)
7. : an interdependent system of organisms or biological units
the skin — the protector, conservator, and inquirer of the society of organs — Margaret Gilbert
the biological organism, a society of cells — T.C.Schneirla & Gerard Piel
II. adjective
: of, relating to, or characteristic of fashionable society
with her outdated society face highly rouged — G.A.Wagner
: dealing with the activities of fashionable society
society page
society reporter