Meanings
comparative more societal · superlative most societal
- Of or pertaining to society or social groups, or to their activities, customs, etc.
While H5N1 flu is obviously lethal, some milder flus pose a greater societal threat, Professor Mathews says.
2010, Malcolm Knox, The Monthly, April 2010, Issue 55, The Monthly Ptd Ltd, page 462 more examples
But his real legacy, which has touched each of us more than we will likely ever know, centers around a rather simple notion of spontaneous order of societal development.
1992 May 31, David Rehr, “Hayek's Legacy of the Spontaneous Order”, in Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, archived from the original on 20 Oct 2025"It would also bring huge societal and economic benefits to all the regions of Britain, not just to London - helping the Government with its 'levelling up' agenda."
2023 July 26, Ben Jones, “EU open access growth offers pointers for UK hopefuls”, in RAIL, number 988, page 33
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiverelating to human society and its members
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sekʷ-
- Proto-Indo-European*sokʷéh₂
- Proto-Indo-European*sokʷh₂ṓy
- Proto-Indo-European*sokʷyós
- Proto-Italic*sokjos
- Latinsokios
- Latinsocius
- Latinsocietā
- Old Frenchsocieté
- Middle Frenchsocieté
- Englishsociety
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishsocietal
Translations
Czech celospolečenský
- celospolečenskýsocietal
Danish samfundsmæssig
- samfundsmæssigsocietal
Dutch maatschappelijk
- maatschappelijksocietal
Estonian ühiskondlik
- ühiskondliksocietal
Finnish yhteiskunnallinen
- yhteiskunnallinensocietal
French sociétal
- sociétalsocietal
German gesellschaftlich
- gesellschaftlichsocietal
Irish sochaíoch
- sochaíochsocietal
Italian societario
- societariosocietal
Lithuanian visuomeninis
- visuomeninissocietal
Norwegian Bokmål samfunnsmessig
- samfunnsmessigsocietal
Polish społeczny
- społecznysocietal
Spanish societal
- societalsocietal
Swedish samhällelig
- samhälleligsocietal
Tagalog ulnungin
- ulnunginsocietal
Turkish toplumsal
- toplumsalsocietal
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
societal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/societal
“societal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/societal. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “societal,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/societal.
Source: societal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.