societas

societas

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *sokjotāts. Related to socius (“associated, allied; partner, companion, ally”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /soˈki.e.taːs/, [s̠ɔˈkiɛt̪äːs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /soˈt͡ʃi.e.tas/, [soˈt͡ʃiːet̪äs]

Noun

societās f (genitive societātis); third declension

1. A union for a common purpose; society, fellowship, partnership, association, community, union; affinity.
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Proverbs 18:24:

     Vir amīcālis ad societātem, magis amīcus erit quam frāter.

     A man amiable in society, shall be more friendly than a brother.
     (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.: 1752 CE)

2. (metonymically) Those united for a common purpose; a company or society of such persons.
3. (by extension) A copartnership, membership, or association for trading purposes.
4. (by extension) A share or stake in a partnership or association
5. (by extension) A political league, alliance, confederacy.

   Synonyms: amīcitia, cōnsociātiō

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	societās	societātēs
Genitive	societātis	societātum
Dative	societātī	societātibus
Accusative	societātem	societātēs
Ablative	societāte	societātibus
Vocative	societās	societātēs

Related terms

• socia
• sociābilis
• sociālis
• sociālitās
• sociāliter
• sociātiō
• sociātrīx
• sociennus
• sociō
• sociofraudus
• socius

Descendants

From nominative societās:

• Italian: soccida~soccita
• Ligurian: sösya
• Lombard: süzda

From accusative societātem:

• Old French: soistié
• → Catalan: societat
• → Galician: sociedade
• → Italian: società
• → Occitan: societat
• → Old French: societé
  • Middle French: societé
    • → English: society
    • French: société
      • → German: Sozietät
      • → Haitian Creole: sosyete
      • → Romanian: societate
      • → Turkish: sosyete
    • Norman: sociêté
• → Portuguese: sociedade
• → Romansch: societad, sozietad, societed, società
• Sicilian: sucitati, sucità
• → Spanish: sociedad

References

• “societas”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “societas”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• societas in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• societas in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be united by having a common language: eiusdem linguae societate coniunctum esse cum aliquo (De Or. 3. 59. 223)
    
  • social life: vitae societas
    
  • to associate with some one: societatem inire, facere cum aliquo
    
  • to unite isolated individuals into a society: dissipatos homines in (ad) societatem vitae convocare (Tusc. 1. 25. 62)
    
• “societas”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911), “sŏcietas”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 607