SOCIETY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does society mean? 

• SOCIETY (noun)
  The noun SOCIETY has 4 senses:

1. an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization

2. a formal association of people with similar interests

3. the state of being with someone

4. the fashionable elite

  Familiarity information: SOCIETY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SOCIETY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("society" is a kind of...):

social group (people sharing some social relation)

Meronyms (parts of "society"):

sector (a social group that forms part of the society or the economy)

class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)

Meronyms (members of "society"):

social organisation; social organization; social structure; social system; structure (the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "society"):

civilisation; civilization; culture (a particular society at a particular time and place)

open society (a society that allows its members considerable freedom (as in a democracy))

tribal society (a society with the social organization of a tribe)

civilisation; civilization (a society in an advanced state of social development (e.g., with complex legal and political and religious organizations))

Derivation:

societal (relating to human society and its members)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A formal association of people with similar interests

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

club; gild; guild; lodge; order; social club; society

Context example:

men from the fraternal order will staff the soup kitchen today

Hypernyms ("society" is a kind of...):

association (a formal organization of people or groups of people)

Meronyms (members of "society"):

club member (someone who is a member of a club)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "society"):

golf club (a club of people to play golf)

service club (a club of professional or business people organized for their coordination and active in public services)

boat club; yacht club (club that promotes and supports yachting and boating)

turnverein (a club of tumblers or gymnasts)

sorority (a social club for female undergraduates)

slate club (a group of people who save money in a common fund for a specific purpose (usually distributed at Christmas))

rowing club (a club for rowers)

racket club (club for players of racket sports)

jockey club (a club to promote and regulate horse racing)

investors club (a club of small investors who buy and sell securities jointly)

hunt; hunt club (an association of huntsmen who hunt for sport)

glee club (a club organized to sing together)

frat; fraternity (a social club for male undergraduates)

country club (a suburban club for recreation and socializing)

chess club (a club of people to play chess)

chapter (a local branch of some fraternity or association)

bookclub (a club that people join in order to buy selected books at reduced prices)

athenaeum; atheneum (a literary or scientific association for the promotion of learning)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The state of being with someone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

companionship; company; fellowship; society

Context example:

he enjoyed the society of his friends

Hypernyms ("society" is a kind of...):

friendly relationship; friendship (the state of being friends (or friendly))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "society"):

freemasonry (a natural or instinctive fellowship between people of similar interests)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The fashionable elite

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

beau monde; bon ton; high society; smart set; society

Hypernyms ("society" is a kind of...):

elite; elite group (a group or class of persons enjoying superior intellectual or social or economic status)

Meronyms (members of "society"):

Four Hundred (the exclusive social set of a city)

 Context examples 

Not one of them had the power of removal, or of effecting any material change of society.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The world's largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders.

(American Society of Hematology, NCI Thesaurus)

These territories are threatened by society itself.

(Brazilian savanna unprotected, study finds, Agência Brasil)

An organization of national chemistry societies.

(International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, NCI Thesaurus)

It is also a duty owed to yourself, for excessive sorrow prevents improvement or enjoyment, or even the discharge of daily usefulness, without which no man is fit for society.”

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I was banished to the house of a relation far distant, and she was allowed no liberty, no society, no amusement, till my father's point was gained.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Descriptive study of cultures and societies.

(Ethnography, NCI Thesaurus)

One does not see much of this influence and importance in society, and how can it be acquired where they are so seldom seen themselves?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

You don't care to make people like you, to go into good society, and cultivate your manners and tastes.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was amused.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)