società

Forms

società f (invariable)^[1] Old forms are Old Italian societade, Old Italian societate and Old Italian sozietà.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin societātem (“fellowship, association; alliance”), in the accusative form whose ending was cut short in Italian.^[4][5][6][1] The Latin noun is formed from socius (“companion, ally”) with the suffix -tās.^[7][1] De Vaan traces the base noun to Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-(h₂)-i-o- (“companion”), formed like Proto-Germanic *sagjaz.^[8][1] The inherited outcome of the same Latin word is soccida, a contract for raising livestock on shares.^[5][1][9] Learned borrowings like this one are French société and Spanish sociedad.^[5][10]

The senses “company of people” and “high society” follow French: the French word had the first from 1690 and haute société from 1835, and DELI quotes 19th-century purists who rejected the Italian phrases for “high society” and “going into society” as Gallicisms.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is Jacopone da Todi (late 13th century, Umbrian), for a group of people sharing moral principles and shaping their conduct by them.^[2][11] DELI and GRADIT date the form sozietade to Giordano da Pisa (before 1311), and società itself to an Italian translation of Augustine of the second half of the 14th century.^[4][12]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word named both the community of mankind (società umana) and the bond, natural or contractual, that ties people together, often paired with compagnia.^[2] An association of people with a common aim is recorded in 1596 and a commercial partnership before 1622.^[4] Lorenzo Magalotti and Paolo Mattia Doria used it for a company of people around 1710; the use of the bare word for “the world, mankind”, without civile or umana, is again a French model.^[4]

The sense “animal society” is recorded before 1869.^[4] Modern Italian has many phrases: società per azioni (joint-stock company), società civile, società dei consumi, onorata società (the Camorra or Mafia), gioco di società (parlour game).^[12][13][14] Società aperta is Karl Popper's open society, and società affluente a calque of English affluent society.^[15][13]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Jacopone da Todi uses societate.^[2]
• Before 1311 – Giordano da Pisa writes sozietade.^[4]
• Second half of the 14th century – Società appears in a translation of Augustine.^[4]
• 1596 – It is used for an association with a common purpose.^[4]
• Before 1622 – It is used for a business partnership.^[4]
• About 1710 – It is used for a company of people, after French.^[4]
• Before 1869 – It is used for an animal society.^[4]
• 1884 – The adjective societario is recorded, on the model of French sociétaire.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. All human beings, seen as joined by natural ties and common interests; society: le regole della società.^[12][13][14]
2. A human group organized by a structure of relations, seen in its time and place: la società rurale dell'Ottocento.^[12][13][15]
3. Social life, the company of others: Dopo il lutto evitava la società.^[12][6]
4. A class of people, especially the upper class and its social life: fare il debutto in società.^[12][6][16]
5. An association of people pursuing a common aim: una società di mutuo soccorso.^[12][13][6]
6. (law, economics) A company or partnership set up to carry on an economic activity: società per azioni.^[12][13][6]
7. (often capitalized) A religious congregation: Società di Gesù.^[12]
8. (zoology) A group of animals of one species living together and dividing tasks.^[4][14]

Word family

• societario

Related words

• sociale
• sociologia
• socio
• soccida
• Latin societas
• French société

Usage notes

In società (“jointly, in partnership”) is common in everyday speech: comprare una barca in società.^[6][12] The word is invariable in the plural: le società.^[12][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3523
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli