society Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization
  2. noun a formal association of people with similar interests
    guild; club; social club; gild; lodge; order.
    • he joined a golf club
    • they formed a small lunch society
    • men from the fraternal order will staff the soup kitchen today
  3. noun the state of being with someone
    fellowship; company; companionship.
    • he missed their company
    • he enjoyed the society of his friends
  4. noun the fashionable elite
    bon ton; smart set; beau monde; high society.

WordNet

So*ci"e*ty noun
Etymology
L. societas, fr. socius a companion: cf. F. société. See Social.
Wordforms
plural Societies
Definitions
  1. The relationship of men to one another when associated in any way; companionship; fellowship; company. "Her loved society." Milton.
    There is society where none intrudes By the deep sea, and music in its roar. Byron.
  2. Connection; participation; partnership. R.
    The meanest of the people and such as have the least society with the acts and crimes of kings. Jer. Taylor.
  3. A number of persons associated for any temporary or permanent object; an association for mutual or joint usefulness, pleasure, or profit; a social union; a partnership; as, a missionary society.
  4. The persons, collectively considered, who live in any region or at any period; any community of individuals who are united together by a common bond of nearness or intercourse; those who recognize each other as associates, friends, and acquaintances.
  5. Specifically, the more cultivated portion of any community in its social relations and influences; those who mutually give receive formal entertainments.

Webster 1913