social

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsəʊ.ʃᵊl/, US /ˈsoʊ.ʃᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sociale, borrowed from Middle French social and directly borrowed from Latin sociālis (“of companions or allies, living with others”),^[2][3][4] from socius (“companion, ally”).^[2][5][6] Socius probably first meant “follower”: Etymonline derives it from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-yo-, a suffixed form of *sekʷ- (“to follow”), the root of Latin sequī (“to follow”).^[2][3][6] Old English secg (“companion, man”) and Old Norse seggr seem to have been formed on the same idea.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Domestic, devoted to home life: before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 1560s social came to mean “living with others”,^[2] and the OED records “capable of being associated with others” in 1562.^[7] Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) has the sense “marked by companionship or friendliness”,^[3][7] and since 1722 it has meant “living or liking to live in communities”.^[3][2] Locke used it of society as a natural human state by 1695.^[2] Of a war between allies it is recorded from 1665, and the Social War of Rome against its Italian allies from 1765.^[7] From 1873 it was used of fashionable society.^[7] The 18th century brought social contract (1763, from translations of Rousseau) and social science (1785).^[2] Recent compounds include social butterfly (1867), social network (1971), social networking (1984) and social media (2008).^[2] As a noun, social meant “a companion” in 1632 according to Barnhart^[3] (the late 17th century according to Etymonline),^[2] and “an informal gathering” from 1870.^[3][2][8]

Timeline

• before 1387 – domestic (Trevisa).^[3]
• 1560s – living with others.^[2]
• 1632 – noun, a companion.^[3]
• 1667 – friendly, companionable (Paradise Lost).^[3][7]
• 1695 – of society (Locke).^[2]
• 1722 – living in communities.^[3][2]
• 1763 – social contract.^[2]
• 1785 – social science.^[2]
• 1870 – noun, an informal gathering.^[3][2]
• 1873 – of fashionable society.^[7]
• 2008 – social media.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Relating to human society and the way it is organized.
2. Living together in organized groups or communities, as some insects do.
3. Fond of the company of others; sociable.
4. Spent in or marked by friendly relations with others: a social evening.
5. Relating to the fashionable or upper classes.
6. (history) Involving allies or members of a confederacy.

Noun

1. An informal social gathering, for example of members of a church.

Word family

• socially
• socialness

Related words

• sociality
• societal
• society
• sociable
• associate
• socialism
• sequel
• sue

Usage notes

The AHD compares social, companionable, convivial, gregarious and sociable, all meaning inclined to or marked by friendly company.^[9] Convivial suggests the pleasure of eating and drinking together, and gregarious a person who avoids being alone.^[9]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin