SOCIETAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does societal mean? 

• SOCIETAL (adjective)
  The adjective SOCIETAL has 1 sense:

1. relating to human society and its members

  Familiarity information: SOCIETAL used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOCIETAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Relating to human society and its members

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

social; societal

Context example:

social legislation

Pertainym:

society (an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization)

Derivation:

society (an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization)

 Context examples 

The mission of the NYU Cancer Institute is to discover the origins of human cancer and to use that knowledge to eradicate the personal and societal burden of cancer.

(NYU Cancer Institute, NCI Thesaurus)

A coded value specifying the physical or societal properties by which male is distinguished from female.

(Administrative Gender Code, NCI Thesaurus)

The scientists quantified the environmental effects in terms of critical zone services, including impacts on the atmosphere and on water quality, and looked at corn's societal value both as food and fuel.

(Corn better used as food than biofuel, National Science Foundation)

A subtype of circadian rhythm sleep disorder in which the individual exhibits a persistent pattern of late sleep onset and late awakening, which results from an endogenous sleep-wake cycle that is delayed relative to the societal norm.

(Delayed Sleep Phase Type Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)