Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of or relating to human society and its modes of organization.
- adjective Of or relating to rank and status in society.
- adjective Of, relating to, or occupied with matters affecting human welfare.
- adjective Interacting with other people and living in communities.
- adjective Biology Living together in organized groups or similar close aggregates.
- adjective Inclined to seek out or enjoy the company of others; sociable.
- adjective Spent in or marked by friendly relations or companionship.
- adjective Intended for convivial activities.
- adjective Linguistics Of or relating to a variety of a language that is used by a group of people sharing some characteristic, such as ethnicity or income level, and differs in pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary from the standard variety.
- noun An informal social gathering, as of the members of a church congregation.
- noun Informal A Social Security number.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A sociable; an informal gathering of people, especially a church gathering.
- Disposed to live in companies; delighting in or desirous of the company, fellowship, and coöperation of others: as, man is a social animal.
- Companionable; sociable; ready to mix in friendly relations or intercourse with one's fellows; also, characteristic of companionable or sociable persons: as, social tastes; a man of fine social instincts.
- Of or pertaining to society, or to the community as a body: as, social duties, interests, usages, problems, questions, etc.; social science.
- In zoology:
- Associating together; gregarious; given to flocking; republican; sociable: as, social ants, bees, wasps, or birds.
- Colonial, aggregate, or compound; not simple or solitary: as, the social ascidians; social polyps. See
Sociales . - In botany, noting species of plants, as the common ragweed (Ambrosia trifida), in which the individuals grow in clumps or patches, or often cover large tracts to the exclusion of other species.
- Synonyms See
sociable .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to society; relating to men living in society, or to the public as an aggregate body
- adjective Ready or disposed to mix in friendly converse; companionable; sociable.
- adjective Consisting in union or mutual intercourse.
- adjective (Bot.) Naturally growing in groups or masses; -- said of many individual plants of the same species.
- adjective Living in communities consisting of males, females, and neuters, as do ants and most bees.
- adjective Forming compound groups or colonies by budding from basal processes or stolons.
- adjective the science of all that relates to the social condition, the relations and institutions which are involved in man's existence and his well-being as a member of an organized community; sociology. It concerns itself with questions of the public health, education, labor, punishment of crime, reformation of criminals, and the like.
- adjective (Zoöl.) the blackfish.
- adjective prostitution.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A festive gathering to foster introductions.
- noun Canadian Prairies A dance held to raise money for a couple to be married.
- noun UK, slang Short for
social security benefit, the UK government department responsible for administering suchwelfare benefit, for its employees. - noun US Short for
social security number . - adjective Being
extroverted oroutgoing . - adjective Of or relating to
society . - adjective Internet Relating to
social media orsocial networks . - adjective rare Relating to a nation's
allies (cf. the Social War) - adjective zoology Cooperating in groups.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective relating to human society and its members
- adjective marked by friendly companionship with others
- adjective relating to or belonging to or characteristic of high society
- adjective composed of sociable people or formed for the purpose of sociability
- noun a party of people assembled to promote sociability and communal activity
- adjective living together or enjoying life in communities or organized groups
- adjective tending to move or live together in groups or colonies of the same kind
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Condorcet moved from his first achievements in mathematics into public service, with the aim of applying to social and political affairs a scientific model that he termed a ˜social arithmetic.™
The Snowbank 2009
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This event will consist of workshops on building leadership skills, discussions on social issues, spaces to share personal passions and ideas for change, and a scope to transform a �social change idea� into a �social initiative�.
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This approach stood in opposition to the more empiricist view dominant since Hume, Comte and Mill, that the moral or social sciences had relied on conceptual and methodological analogies with the natural sciences, from Newtonian and statistical mechanics, such as Condorcet's ˜social mathematics™ and also from biology, such as Saint-Simon's ˜social physiology™.
The Unity of Science Cat, Jordi 2007
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-- The investigation of social evils and of their proper remedies, and of the laws which govern man in his social relations, has received of late the name of _social science_.
Outline of Universal History George Park Fisher 1868
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It is more difficult to say which extreme is worst, among _an equal number of individuals_; but probably the city; for in the country, vice is oftener solitary, and less frequently social; while in the city it is not only _social_ but also _solitary_.
The Young Man's Guide William A. Alcott 1824
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˜social conditions™ that brought his views into conflict with a number of reformers, including the Fabian social radicals, Sidney and Beatrice Webb.
My Recycled Soul 2009
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˜social minimum policy regime™ as a set of policies and institutions that serve to secure reasonable access to this social minimum for all members of the society.
Social Minimum White, Stuart 2004
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_transient offices_, or _occupations not related to social life_; using such titles only as indicate a rank or profession that is _for life_; and which has become a part of the man's _identity_, or which is distinctly allied to his _social conditions_.
Etiquette Agnes H. Morton
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And I am increasingly of the view that it’s not just that the CS code doesn’t properly account for social media, there’s actual a wider problem with regulating and allowing for what you might broadly call ’social movement’ politics generally.
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I have followed the trajectory of US National Public Radio’s Bryant Park Project because they were experimenting with so many social media tools and ideas, and more than that, they seemed to have grokked the ’social’ in social media.
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I prefer the term “social reproduction,” coined by Marxist-feminists in the 1970s, which refers to the labor—paid and unpaid, inside and outside the home—necessary to sustain life.
How Capitalism Invented the Care Economy Premilla Nadasen 2021
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Consistent sleep patterns help regulate metabolism and a recent King’s College London study found that “social jet lag” from weekend lie-ins led to poor gut health and inflammation, plus an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.
No, you shouldn’t wear knickers in bed – and 14 other lazy sleep myths, busted Tracy Ramsden 2024
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