society

plural societies · alternative abbreviation soc.

1. countableA long-standing group of people sharing cultural aspects such as language, dress, norms of behavior and artistic forms.

   This society has been known for centuries for its colorful clothing and tight-knit family structure.

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   He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.

   2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 162

2. countableA group of people who meet from time to time to engage in a common interest; an association or organization.

   It was then that they decided to found a society of didgeridoo-playing unicyclists.

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   At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.[…]In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.

   1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC

   The Stephenson Locomotive Society (North Western Area) and the Manchester Locomotive Society are co-operating in running a special corridor train, to be worked by an 0-6-0 locomotive of the former Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, on Saturday, May 12, over a route which includes visits to four historic stations, ascent of the 1 in 27 Werneth Incline, and traversal of lines normally closed to passenger traffic.

   1956 April, “Notes and News: Rail Tour of "Old Manchester"”, in Railway Magazine, page 273

3. countableThe sum total of all voluntary interrelations between individuals.

   The gap between Western and Eastern societies seems to be narrowing.

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   Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.

   2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848

4. uncountableCompanionship or association with one's fellows; friendly or intimate intercourse.

   The society of friends is one of life's great joys.

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   This was Jo’s favorite refuge, and here she loved to retire with half a dozen russets and a nice book, to enjoy the quiet and the society of a pet rat who lived near by and didn’t mind her a particle.[…]

   1868, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 2, in Little Women

5. uncountableThe people of one’s country or community taken as a whole.

   Our global society develops in fits and starts.

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   If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the ever more expensive and then universally known killing hazards of gasoline cars:[…].

   2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion

   Libertarian paternalism is the view that, because the way options are presented to citizens affects what they choose, society should present options in a way that “nudges” our intuitive selves to make choices that are more consistent with what our more deliberative selves would have chosen if they were in control.

   2012 January 28, Steven Sloman, “The Battle Between Intuition and Deliberation”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 74

6. uncountableHigh society.

   Smith was first introduced into society at the Duchess of Grand Fenwick's annual rose garden party.

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   "What a charming amusement for young people this is, Mr. Darcy! There is nothing like dancing after all. I consider it as one of the first refinements of polished society."

   1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

7. countablelawA number of people joined by mutual consent to deliberate, determine and act toward a common goal.