sociable

sociable

English

Etymology

From Middle French sociable, from Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊʃəbəl/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Adjective

sociable (comparative more sociable, superlative most sociable)

1. (of a person) Tending to socialize or be social.

   He's normally pretty quiet, but he gets much more sociable around women.

   Synonyms: friendly, inviting, congenial

   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Society is no comfort to one not sociable.

2. Offering opportunities for conversation; characterized by much conversation.

   a sociable party

3. (archaic) Capable of being, or fit to be, united in one body or company; associable.
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, J[ohn] S[penser], editor, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, OCLC 931154958, (please specify the page):

     They are sociable parts united into one body.

4. (obsolete) No longer hostile; friendly.
   • c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher, “Philaster: Or, Love Lies a Bleeding”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, OCLC 3083972, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Is the King sociable And bids thee live ?

Antonyms

• (tending to socialize): unsociable

Derived terms

• sociability
• sociableness

Translations

tending to socialize or be social; friendly; inviting; congenial

Belarusian: тавары́скі (tavarýski) Bulgarian: общителен (bg) (obštitelen), приятелски (bg) (prijatelski) Catalan: sociable (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 社交的 (zh) (shèjiāo de) Finnish: seurallinen, sosiaalinen (fi) French: sociable (fr) Galician: falangueiro (gl) Georgian: მეგობრული (megobruli), კომუნიკაბელური (ḳomuniḳabeluri), ურთიერთობის მოყვარული (urtiertobis moq̇varuli), კონტაქტური (ḳonṭakṭuri) German: gesellig (de) Hungarian: társaságkedvelő (hu), barátkozó (hu), közvetlen (hu) Irish: caidreamhach, cuideachtúil Japanese: 社交的な (ja) (しゃこうてきな, shakōteki na) Maori: whakahoahoa Norwegian: Bokmål: selskapelig Nynorsk: selskapeleg, selskapleg Polish: towarzyski (pl) Portuguese: sociável Romanian: sociabil (ro) Russian: общи́тельный (ru) (obščítelʹnyj), коммуника́бельный (ru) (kommunikábelʹnyj), конта́ктный (ru) (kontáktnyj), компане́йский (ru) (kompanéjskij) Spanish: comerciable (es), gregario (es) Tagalog: halubilo, mahalubilo Ukrainian: товари́ський (tovarýsʹkyj), компані́йський (kompaníjsʹkyj)

Noun

sociable (plural sociables)

1. A sociable person.
2. (historical) A four-wheeled open carriage with seats facing each other.
3. A bicycle or tricycle for two persons side by side.
4. A couch with a curved S-shaped back.
5. (US) An informal party or church meeting for purposes of socializing.
   • 1903, George Horace Lorimer, Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to his Son (page 46)

     At the church sociables he used to hop around among them, chipping and chirping like a dicky-bird picking up seed; and he was a great hand to play the piano, and sing saddish, sweetish songs to them.

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Asturian

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Adjective

sociable (epicene, plural sociables)

1. sociable

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Adjective

sociable (masculine and feminine plural sociables)

1. sociable

Further reading

• “sociable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “sociable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “sociable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “sociable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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French

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.sjabl/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

sociable (plural sociables)

1. sociable

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Galician

Alternative forms

• sociábel

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.ˈθja.ble/, [s̺ɔ.ˈθja.βle̝]

Adjective

sociable m or f (plural sociables)

1. sociable

Antonyms

• insociable

Further reading

• “sociable” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /soˈθjable/ [soˈθja.β̞le]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /soˈsjable/ [soˈsja.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: so‧cia‧ble

Adjective

sociable (plural sociables)

1. sociable

Derived terms

• sociabilidad

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014