sociale Italian · revision 39193

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=after 1298, Questioni filosofiche|origins=la socius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /soˈt͡ʃa.le/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sociale''' ''m or f'' by sense (plural sociali)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|sociālis|t=companionable; of allies]], a learned word from [[m|la|socius|t=companion, ally]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|19, 227) The Latin adjective is formed from the noun with the suffix [[m|la|-ālis]].^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) [[fr|social]] and [[es|social]] continue it in the same learned way.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The modern sense “of human society” owes much to French: Battisti and Alessio treat this sense apart, as taken in the 19th century from [[m|fr|social]], and Nocentini and Prati trace it to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's “Contrat social” of 1762.^(DEI|3523)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Prati 1951|924) Italian had [[contratto sociale]] already in 1763–64, in Cesare Beccaria's “Dei delitti e delle pene”.^(DELI 1999) The derivatives [[socialità]], [[socializzare]] and [[socializzazione]] also follow French models.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the Tuscan ''Questioni filosofiche'', written after 1298, where the adjective means “concerning relations with other people”.^(TLIO) DELI dates the word from a 14th-century translation of Gregory the Great's ''Moralia'', which speaks of ''vita sociale'', life in company.^(DELI 1999)^(Prati 1951|924)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the adjective described people inclined to company, one who works together with others, and the alliances of Rome with the Italian peoples, including the Social War between Rome and its allies.^(TLIO)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861|4, 943) Girolamo Savonarola wrote that man is a ''animale sociale'', rendering Aristotle's phrase, and the expression has stayed in use.^(GDLI)^(Zingarelli 2010) From the 16th century the word also referred to an association or company, a sense continued in ''capitale sociale'' and ''sede sociale''.^(DELI 1999)^(Treccani 2011)

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+ With Rousseau and Beccaria in the 1760s it came to mean “of human society”, and in the 19th century it took on the political colouring of ''questione sociale'' and ''giustizia sociale'', alongside ''socialista'' (1839) and ''socialismo'' (1844).^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) Recent dictionaries add the noun ''il sociale'', the field of welfare and voluntary work: ''impegnarsi nel sociale''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * After 1298 – ''Sociale'' appears in the Tuscan ''Questioni filosofiche''.^(TLIO)

+ * 14th century – The translation of Gregory's ''Moralia'' has ''vita sociale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1580 – Vincenzo Borghini uses it of an association or company.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1686 – Paolo Segneri has ''socialità''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1763–1764 – Cesare Beccaria writes of the ''contratto sociale''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1839 – ''Socialista'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1844 – ''Socialismo'' is first recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Living in [[società|alt=society]], inclined by nature to live with others: ''Il cane è un animale molto sociale.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(zoology, botany)'' Of animals, especially [[m|en|insect|alt=insects]] such as ants and bees, living in organised colonies; of plants, growing in groups of the same species.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # Of human society and the relations between people within it: ''Le differenze sociali sono aumentate.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Aimed at better living conditions for the less well off; of art or cinema, denouncing [[m|en|injustice]]: ''politiche sociali''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a company, club or association and its members: ''la quota sociale''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(history)'' Of the allies of ancient Rome.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(TLIO)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''il sociale'': the field of welfare, social services and voluntary work.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[socialdemocrazia]]

+ * [[socialismo]]

+ * [[socialità]]

+ * [[socializzare]]

+ * [[socialmente]]

+ * [[socializzazione]]

+ * [[socialistico]]

+ * [[socialcomunismo]]

+ * [[socialista]]

+ * [[socialcomunista]]

+ * [[socialdemocratico]]

+ * [[antisociale]]

+ * [[asociale]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[società]]

+ * [[socievole]]

+ * [[socio]]

+ * [[la|socialis]]

+ * [[fr|social]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}