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sociology

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌsəʊsiːˈɒləd͡ʒiː/, /ˌsəʊʃiːˈɒləd͡ʒiː/[1]
  • US: /ˌsoʊsiˈɑləd͡ʒi/, /ˌsoʊʃiˈɑləd͡ʒi/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French sociologie,[2][3][4][5] a hybrid formed from Latin socius (“companion, associate”), the root of social, and the Greek-derived suffix -logie, from Ancient Greek -λογία (-logía) (English -logy).[2][6][3] Etymonline, Barnhart and Klein credit the French word to the philosopher Auguste Comte, who coined it in 1830;[2][3][6] the OED's first French evidence is from Comte in 1839, with an earlier isolated use by Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès about 1780 in an unpublished manuscript, and it treats the English word as formed from socio- and -logy after the French model.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The study of the development, structure and working of human society: 1842, in the New York Review.[7][2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date it to 1843,[3][4] as Barnhart also dates sociological and sociologist.[3]

Semantic evolution

From 1865 the word was also used for the social aspects of a subject or for a particular sociological system,[7] and in the early 20th century for applying sociological ideas to other fields.[8] In 1904 ecologists borrowed it for the study of plant and animal communities, now often called phytosociology for plants.[7]

Timeline

  • 1830 – French sociologie, coined by Comte.[2][3]
  • 1842 – the study of human society.[7][2]
  • 1865 – the social aspects of a subject.[7]
  • 1904 – the study of plant or animal communities.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The study of the development, structure and functioning of human society, its institutions and social relationships.
  2. The social aspects of a subject, or a particular sociological approach to it: the sociology of religion.
  3. (ecology) The study of communities of plants or animals.

Word family

  • sociologic
  • sociologically
  • sociologist
  • macrosociology
  • microsociology
  • phytosociology

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press