social

Forms

social m or f (plural sociais)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sociālis (“of allies; made for society, sociable; conjugal”), taken into Portuguese in the 16th century.^[2][3][4][1] Nascentes calls it a learned word, and Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed as sócio with the suffix -al.^[4][1]

The Latin adjective is formed from socius (“companion, ally”) with the suffix -ālis.^[5][1] De Vaan traces the noun to Proto-Italic *sokjo- and Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-(h₂)-i-o- (“companion”), and Wiktionary derives this from the root *sekʷ- (“to follow”).^[6][1] Lewis and Short note that the sense “sociable, social” is not found before the Augustan age.^[7]

The same Latin word was borrowed as Spanish social, French social, Italian sociale and Galician social.^[8][1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1597, in the Monarquia Lusitana.^[2] Bluteau quotes that chronicle for the phrase desta Social communicação “this social intercourse”, and defines the word as what concerns society, friendship and the union of several people.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1813) adds the sense “inclined to live in society with one's fellows”, as in “man is a social animal”, and the sense “belonging to a partnership”, as in the contrato social.^[11] Vieira in the 1870s already quotes it of the corpo social and the estado social.^[12]

The noun came to mean what belongs to everyone, and the welfare of the poorer classes, while Brazilian Portuguese gave the adjective a new use in buildings: the entrada social or elevador social is the one residents use, as against the service entrance.^[2][13] In Brazil the noun also names an informal small party among friends, and the adjective describes formal clothes.^[1][14]

Timeline

• 1597 – first record, in the Monarquia Lusitana.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines social as what concerns society, friendship and union.^[10]
• 1813 – Morais adds “inclined to live in society” and the contrato social.^[11]
• 1823 – the word appears in a private letter.^[15]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira quotes corpo social and estado social.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to society (sociedade) or to the people who live in it: problemas sociais.^[2][13][16]
2. Relating to friendship and to people meeting and spending time together.^[2][10]
3. Relating to a firm or commercial company: capital social, razão social (the company's legal name).^[2][17]
4. Relating to the whole community or the citizens of a country; collective.^[2]
5. Living in groups; sociable (sociável), outgoing.^[2][17][1]
6. Relating to the members (sócios) of a society or club: quadro social.^[2][13]
7. (Brazil) Of an entrance, lift or room of a building: for residents and visitors, not for deliveries and service staff (opposed to de serviço).^[2][13]
8. (entomology) Living in organised colonies with a division of labour, as bees (abelha), ants and termites do.^[2][1]
9. (of clothes) formal, suitable for social occasions: camisa social.^[1][13]

Noun

1. What belongs to all; the public sphere, as opposed to the private.^[2]
2. The welfare of the people, especially of the poorer classes: um governo que pensa no social.^[2]
3. (in the plural, feminine) The stand of a stadium or racecourse reserved for members.^[2][13]
4. (Brazil, informal) A small party among close friends.^[1]

Word family

• antissocial
• associal
• socializar
• socialmente

Related words

• sócio
• sociedade
• sociável
• Latin sociālis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. social
3. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. sócio
4. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. social
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. socialis
8. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es
9. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. social
10. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. social
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 713
12. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 561
13. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. social
14. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. social
15. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. social
16. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. social
17. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. social