social

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See also: sociál

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, companion, fellow”). More at seg.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈsoʊ.ʃəl/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -əʊʃəl

Adjective

social (comparative more social, superlative most social)

  2. Being extroverted or outgoing.
    James is a very social guy; he knows lots of people.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1:
      Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.
  4. Of or relating to society.
    • 2012 January, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 January 2012, page 70:
      Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.
    Teresa feels uncomfortable in certain social situations.
    Unemployment is a social problem.
  6. (Internet) Relating to social media or social networks.
    social gaming
  8. (rare) Relating to a nation's allies.
    the Social War
  10. (biology) Cooperating or growing in groups.
    a social insect

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

social (countable and uncountable, plural socials)

  1. A festive gathering to foster introductions.
    They organized a social at the dance club to get people to know each other.
  2. (Canadian Prairies) A dance held to raise money, often held for a couple to be married.
  3. (British, colloquial, with definite article) Ellipsis of social security.
    Fred hated going down to the social to sign on.
  4. (US, colloquial) Ellipsis of social security number.
    What's your social? [asked so that the asker can look up your account details]
  5. (dated, Ireland) A dinner dance event, usually held annually by a company or sporting club.
  6. (Canada) Ellipsis of social studies.
  7. (Internet, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of social media.
    discussing the social strategies of various companies
    • 2023 January 31, Casey Newton, quoting Kevin Systrom, “Instagram’s co-founders are back with Artifact, a kind of TikTok for text”, in The Verge‎:
      “I saw that shift, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s the future of social,’” Systrom said.
  8. (Internet, informal, countable) A social media account; the username or handle thereof, or a link thereto.
    Also check out some other experts in this topic — their socials are in the pinned comment below.
    • 2019 August 29, “Cheeto Christ Stupid Czar”, Randy Rainbow (lyrics), Andrew Lloyd Webber (music)‎performed by Randy Rainbow:
      Close your mouth and delete all your socials tonight.

Translations

References

Anagrams

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin sociālis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

social (epicene, plural sociales)

  1. social

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sociālis. First attested in 1803.

Pronunciation

Adjective

social m or f (masculine and feminine plural socials)

  1. social

Derived terms

Related terms

References

  1. ^ “social”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024

Further reading

Chinese

Alternative forms

Etymology

From English social or Clipping of English socialize or English sociable.

Pronunciation

Adjective

social

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) social; sociable; outgoing

Verb

social

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to socialize (to interact with others)

References

Danish

Etymology

From French social, from Latin sociālis (“concerning a partner or an ally”), an adjective derived from the noun socius (“partner, ally”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

social (neuter socialt, plural and definite singular attributive sociale)

  1. social
  2. sociable

Further reading

French

Etymology

From Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion, companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, ally”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

social (feminine sociale, masculine plural sociaux, feminine plural sociales)

  1. social, related to society, community
    Un devoir social. ― A social obligation.
  2. social, living in society
    l’homme est un animal social. ― Man is a social animal.
  3. mundane, related to social life
    • 1922, Marcel Proust, Fugitive:
      Était-ce parce que la vie sociale de Gilberte devait présenter les mêmes contrastes que celle de Swann ?
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

  • → Romanian: social
  • → Turkish: sosyal

Noun

social m (plural sociaux)

  1. action intended to make society work better
    faire du social. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Further reading

Galician

Etymology

From Latin sociālis.

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Adjective

social m or f (plural sociais)

  1. social

Derived terms

Further reading

Italian

Etymology

Ellipsis of social network.

Noun

social m

  1. social network
    • 2019 October 1, “Zuckerberg è pronto alla battaglia contro Warren e TikTok (e Facebook non perde utenti)”, in Corriere della Sera‎:
      TikTok è sia la prima piattaforma cinese a imporsi nel resto del mondo sia l’unico social a ottenere numeri finora inanellati solo da Menlo Park (500 milioni di utenti), eppure non sembra causare particolari grattacapi.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. (in the plural) social media
    postare sui social ― to post on social media
    • 2018 January 25, ““Un inconveniente tecnico”: il tweet di Trenord fa infuriare i social, poi le scuse”, in La Stampa‎:
      «Circolazione interrotta tra Treviglio e Milano a causa di un inconveniente tecnico a un treno»: è il tweet di Trenord delle 8.09 che ha fatto infuriare i social dopo il deragliamento a Seggiano di Pioltello.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Anagrams

Middle French

Etymology

First known attestation 1355, borrowed from Latin sociālis.

Adjective

social m (feminine singular sociale, masculine plural sociaulx, feminine plural sociales)

  1. allied (on the same side)
  2. social (tending to spend time with others)

Descendants

References

  1. ^ Etymology and history of “social”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
  • Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (social, supplement)

Occitan

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin sociālis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

social m (feminine singular sociala, masculine plural socials, feminine plural socialas)

  1. social (relating to society)

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

Adjective

social

  1. social

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin sociālis.

Pronunciation

  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /so.siˈaw/ , (faster pronunciation) /soˈsjaw/
 

  • Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
  • Hyphenation: so‧ci‧al

Adjective

social m or f (plural sociais)

  1. social (relating to society)
  2. (business) social (relating to business firms)
  3. social; outgoing; extroverted
    Synonyms: sociável, extrovertido
    Antonym: associal
  4. (ecology) social (living in large groups)
  5. (Brazil) for use by the residents of an apartment block, as opposed to maintenance workers or deliverymen
    Elevador social. ― Residents’ lift.

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

social m or f (plural sociais)

  1. (Brazil, informal) a small party between close people or friends

Further reading

  • “social” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French social.

Pronunciation

Adjective

social m or n (feminine singular socială, masculine plural sociali, feminine and neuter plural sociale)

  1. social (of or relating to society)

Declension

Declension of social
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite social socială sociali sociale
definite socialul sociala socialii socialele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite social sociale sociali sociale
definite socialului socialei socialilor socialelor

Further reading

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion, companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, ally”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Spain) /soˈθjal/
  • IPA(key): (Latin America) /soˈsjal/
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: so‧cial

Adjective

social m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociales)

  1. social

Derived terms

Further reading

Swedish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sosiˈɑːl/, /soˈɧɑːl/
  • Audio(file)

Adjective

social (comparative mer social, superlative mest social)

  1. (not comparable) social, pertaining to living conditions and society (of an issue)
  2. social, kind, friendly, welcoming, outgoing (of a person)
    Synonyms: utåtriktad, sällskaplig, föreningsintresserad

Declension

Inflection of social
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular social mer social mest social
Neuter singular socialt mer socialt mest socialt
Plural sociala mer sociala mest sociala
Masculine plural3 sociale mer sociala mest sociala
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 sociale mer sociale mest sociale
All sociala mer sociala mest sociala
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic

Related terms

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia