social

See also: sociál

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷéh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-ṓy

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷh₂ṓy

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷyós

Proto-Italic *sokjos

Latin sokios

Latin socius

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin sociālisbor.

Middle French socialbor.

English social

From Middle French social, from Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion or companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, fellow, partner, associate, ally”), from sequor (“follow”). Cognate with English seg (“man, companion, fellow”). More at seg.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsəʊ.ʃəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊ.ʃəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊʃəl

Adjective

social (comparative more social, superlative most social)

2. Being extroverted or outgoing.

   James is a very social guy; he knows lots of people.

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chapter 1:

     Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it—would they let me—since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in.

4. Of or relating to society.
   • 2012 January, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 January 2012, page 70:

     Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force.

   Teresa feels uncomfortable in certain social situations.

   Unemployment is a social problem.

6. (Internet) Relating to social media or social networks.

   social gaming

8. (rare) Relating to a nation's allies.

   the Social War

10. (biology) Cooperating or growing in groups.

    a social insect

Antonyms

• antisocial
• unsocial
• asocial

Derived terms

• anti-social
• anti-social personality disorder
• biosocial
• box social
• chronosocial
• corporate social responsibility
• cybersocial
• dissocial
• dissocialize
• ecosocial
• ethnosocial
• eusocial
• extrasocial
• geosocial
• heterosocial
• homosocial
• hypersocial
• ice cream social, ice-cream social
• intersocial
• macrosocial
• medicosocial
• metasocial
• microsocial
• necktie social
• nonsocial
• parasocial
• physicosocial
• postsocialistic
• presocial
• prosocial
• protosocial
• pseudosocial
• psychosocial
• quasisocial
• s-commerce
• semisocial
• shadow social
• socdem
• sociable
• social action
• social affairs minister
• social alienation
• social anthropologist
• social anthropology
• social anxiety
• social anxiety disorder
• social atom
• social autopsy
• social battery
• social bookmarking
• social butterfly
• social call
• social capital
• social choice
• social circle
• social class
• social climber
• social climbing
• social club
• social cohesion
• social collaboration
• social collapse
• social column
• social columnist
• social commentary
• social commerce
• social compact
• social conditioning
• social conflict paradigm
• social conscience
• social conservatism
• social conservative
• social construct
• social constructionism
• social constructionist
• social constructivism
• social constructivist
• social contagion
• social contract
• social control
• social cost
• social coupon
• social credit
• social creditism
• social cue
• social Darwinism
• social death
• social deduction
• social democracy
• social democrat
• social democratic
• social disease
• social distance
• social distancing
• social drinker
• social dynamics
• social eating
• social ecology
• social engineer
• social engineering
• social entrepreneur
• social entrepreneurship
• social envy
• social event
• social evil
• social evolutionism
• social facilitation
• social fascism
• social fascist
• social function
• social grace
• social graph
• social group
• social handbag
• social hangover
• social history
• social housing
• social hygiene
• social immunity
• social imperialism
• social infertility
• social informatics
• social insect
• social insurance
• social insurance number
• socialise
• social isolation
• social issue
• socialist
• socialite
• socialization
• socialize
• social jet lag
• social justice
• social justice warrior
• social-justice warrior
• social ladder
• social landlord
• social liberal
• social liberalism
• social life
• social listening
• social loafing
• social lubricant
• socially
• social marginality
• social media
• social media intelligence
• social media revolution
• social medicine
• social medium
• social mobility
• social movement
• social murder
• socialness
• social network
• social networking
• social nicety
• social notworking
• social occasion
• social order
• social orphan
• social outcast
• social partnership
• social pattern
• social philosophy
• social phobia
• social physics
• social piranha
• social policy
• social power
• socialpreneur
• social profile
• social programming
• social project management
• social promotion
• social proof
• social psychology
• social realism
• social recession
• social recruiting
• social responsibility
• social roll
• social safety net
• socialscape
• social science
• social scientist
• social season
• social secretary
• social security
• social service
• social services
• social sharing
• social skills
• social smoker
• social spam
• social spending
• social standing
• social station
• social status
• social stigma
• social studies
• social supermarket
• social tariff
• social trading
• social unit
• social valence
• social viewing
• social wasp
• social weaverbird
• social welfare
• social whale
• social work
• social worker
• SOCMINT
• subsocial
• supersocial
• technosocial
• ultrasocial

Related terms

• sociality
• societal

Translations

extroverted or outgoing

• Belarusian: тавары́скі (tavarýski)
• Bulgarian: общи́телен (bg) (obštítelen)
• Catalan: social (ca), sociable (ca)
• Czech: společenský (cs)
• Danish: social (da), udadvendt (da), selskabelig
• Esperanto: sociema
• Faroese: sosialur, felagsligur
• Finnish: ulospäinsuuntautunut (fi), ekstrovertti (fi), sosiaalinen (fi), seurallinen
• Galician: social (gl)
• German: kontaktfreudig (de), gesellig (de), leutselig (de), extrovertiert (de), umgänglich (de)
• Greek: κοινωνικός (el) (koinonikós)
• Hindi: मिलनसार (hi) (milansār)
• Hungarian: társasági (hu), szociális (hu)
• Icelandic: mannblendinn, félagslyndur
• Irish: sóisialta
• Italian: sociale (it), socievole (it), estroverso (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sosial (no), utadvendt (no), selskapelig

  Nynorsk: sosial, omgjengeleg, selskapeleg

• Old English: ġefērlīċ
• Polish: towarzyski (pl)
• Portuguese: social (pt)
• Russian: общи́тельный (ru) (obščítelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: sòisealta, caidreamhach
• Slovene: družben
• Swedish: social (sv), utåtriktad (sv), sällskaplig (sv), föreningsintresserad
• Tagalog: ulnungin
• Telugu: సాంఘిక (sāṅghika)
• Ukrainian: товари́ський (tovarýsʹkyj)
• Urdu: ملنسار (milansār)
• Welsh: cymdeithasol (cy)

relating to society

• Albanian: social (sq)
• Arabic: مُجْتَمَعِيّ (mujtamaʕiyy), اِجْتِمَاعِيّ (ijtimāʕiyy)
• Armenian: հասարակական (hy) (hasarakakan), սոցիալական (hy) (socʻialakan)
• Asturian: social
• Azerbaijani: ictimai (az), sosial
• Bashkir: социаль (sotsial)
• Belarusian: сацыя́льны (sacyjálʹny), грама́дскі (hramádski)
• Bulgarian: социа́лен (bg) (sociálen), обще́ствен (bg) (obštéstven)
• Catalan: social (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 社會的 / 社会的 (zh) (shèhuì de)

• Czech: společenský (cs), sociální (cs)
• Danish: social (da)
• Dutch: sociaal (nl), maatschappelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: socia
• Faroese: samfelagsligur, almanna
• Finnish: yhteiskunnallinen (fi), yhteiskunta- (fi), sosiaalinen (fi), sosiaali- (fi)
• French: social (fr)
• Galician: social (gl)
• Georgian: სოციალური (ka) (socialuri), საზოგადოებრივი (sazogadoebrivi)
• German: sozial (de), Sozial-, gesellschaftlich (de)
• Greek: κοινωνικός (el) m (koinonikós)
• Hebrew: חֶבְרָתִי (he) (khevratí)
• Hindi: सामाजिक (hi) (sāmājik)
• Hungarian: társadalmi (hu), szociális (hu), társas (hu)
• Icelandic: félagslegur (is)
• Irish: sóisialta
• Italian: sociale (it), mondano (it)
• Japanese: 社会的な (ja) (しゃかいてきな, shakaiteki na)
• Kazakh: әлеуметтік (älewmettik), қоғамдық (qoğamdıq)
• Korean: 사회적인 (sahoejeog-in)
• Kyrgyz: коомдук (ky) (koomduk)
• Macedonian: социјален (socijalen), општествен (opštestven)
• Marathi: सामाजिक (mr) (sāmājik)
• Mongolian: нийгмийн (mn) (niigmiin)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sosial (no), samfunnsmessig (no)

  Nynorsk: sosial, samfunnsmessig

• Occitan: social (oc), sociau
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: اِجْتِماعی (ejtemâ'i), سوسْیال (sosyâl)

• Polish: społeczny (pl)
• Portuguese: social (pt)
• Romanian: social (ro)
• Russian: социа́льный (ru) (sociálʹnyj), обще́ственный (ru) (obščéstvennyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: sòisealta
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: со̏ција̄лан

  Latin: sȍcijālan (sh)

• Sicilian: suciali
• Slovak: spoločenský, sociálny
• Slovene: socialen (sl)
• Spanish: social (es)
• Swedish: social (sv)
• Tagalog: panlipunan, ulnungin, ulnayin (social studies), ulnayanin
• Tajik: иҷтимоӣ (tg) (ijtimoyi), сотсиалӣ (sotsiali)
• Tatar: социаль (sotsiyalʹ)
• Telugu: సాంఘికము (sāṅghikamu)
• Turkish: toplumsal (tr), sosyal (tr)
• Turkmen: sosial
• Ukrainian: соціа́льний (uk) (sociálʹnyj), суспі́льний (uk) (suspílʹnyj), грома́дський (uk) (hromádsʹkyj)
• Urdu: مَجْلِسی (majlisī), سوشَل (sośal), اِجْتِماعی (ijtimā'ī), سماجی (samājī), معاشرتی (mu'āśaratī)
• Uyghur: ئىجتىمائىي (ijtima'iy)
• Uzbek: ijtimoiy (uz), sotsial (uz)
• Vietnamese: xã hội (vi)
• Welsh: cymdeithasol (cy)

internet: relating to social media or social networks

• Bashkir: социаль (sotsial)
• Bulgarian: социален (bg) (socialen)
• Esperanto: socia
• Finnish: sosiaalinen (fi)
• Marathi: सोशल (sośal)
• Portuguese: social (pt)
• Welsh: cymdeithasol (cy)

relating to a nation's allies

• Portuguese: social (pt)

zoology: cooperating in groups

• Finnish: yhteiskunta- (fi)
• Māori: noho rōpū
• Portuguese: social (pt)
• Tajik: иҷтимоӣ (tg) (ijtimoyi), ҷамъиятӣ (jam'iyati), ҷомеавӣ (jomeavi), сотсиалӣ (sotsiali)

Noun

social (countable and uncountable, plural socials)

1. A festive gathering to foster introductions.

   They organized a social at the dance club to help people get to know one another.

2. (Canadian Prairies) A dance held to raise money, often held for a couple to be married.
3. (UK, colloquial, with definite article) Ellipsis of social security.

   Fred hated going down to the social to sign on.

5. (US, colloquial) Ellipsis of social security number.

   What's your social? [asked so that the asker can look up your account details]

6. (dated, Ireland) A dinner dance event, usually held annually by a company or sporting club.
7. (Canada) Ellipsis of social studies.
9. (Internet, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of social media.
   • 2023 January 31, Casey Newton, quoting Kevin Systrom, “Instagram’s co-founders are back with Artifact, a kind of TikTok for text”, in The Verge‎^[2], archived from the original on 2 April 2024:

     “I saw that shift, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s the future of social,’” Systrom said.

   • 2026, Brian Underwood, “When You Can Turn Back Time”, in Men's Health, volume 41, number 2, page 31:

     It went mainstream after it was dubbed the "vampire facial" on social.

10. (Internet, informal, countable) A social media account; the username or handle thereof, or a link thereto.

    Also check out some other experts in this topic — their socials are in the pinned comment below.

    • 2019 August 29, “Cheeto Christ Stupid Czar”, Randy Rainbow (lyrics), Andrew Lloyd Webber (music)‎^[3]performed by Randy Rainbow:

      Close your mouth and delete all your socials tonight.

    • 2025 May 13, Richard Fausset, “The Pope’s Florida Brother, a MAGA Disciple, Plans to ‘Tone It Down’”, in The New York Times‎^[4], →ISSN, archived from the original on 14 May 2025:

      Nearly a week after the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, the world is still adjusting to the fact that he has an American family that does typically American things. The Borgias, for all their many sins, never posted crude or spicy memes to the socials.

Derived terms

• dark social

Translations

festive gathering to foster introductions

• Bulgarian: вечеринка (bg) f (večerinka)
• Finnish: tutustumistilaisuus
• Irish: ócáid shóisialta f

short for social security benefit

• Finnish: sossu (fi)
• Norwegian: sosialen

short for social security number

• Finnish: sotu (fi), hetu (fi)

References

• “social”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “social”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “social”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, retrieved 15 July 2017, reproduced from Collins English Dictionary: Complete & Unabridged, digital edition, [London]: HarperCollins, 2012.

Anagrams

• scolia

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin sociālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /soˈθjal/ [soˈθjal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: so‧cial

Adjective

social (epicene, plural sociales)

1. social

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sociālis. First attested in 1803.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [su.siˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia, Northwestern) [so.siˈal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: so‧ci‧al

Adjective

social m or f (masculine and feminine plural socials)

1. social

Derived terms

• antisocial
• asocial
• ciència social
• classe social
• distanciació social
• distanciament social
• politicosocial
• socialdemocràcia
• socialdemòcrata
• socialisme
• socialista
• socialitzar
• socialment
• xarxa social

Related terms

• soci

Further reading

• “social”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “social” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “social”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chinese

Alternative forms

• so so

Etymology

From English social or Clipping of English socialize or English sociable.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sou¹ sou⁴ / sou¹ sou²

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sou¹ sou⁴ / sou¹ sou²
    • Yale: sōu sòuh / sōu sóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sou¹ sou⁴ / sou¹ sou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: sou¹ sou⁴ / sou¹ sou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sou̯⁵⁵ sou̯²¹/, /sou̯⁵⁵ sou̯³⁵/

Adjective

social

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) social; sociable; outgoing

Verb

social

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to socialize (to interact with others)

References

• English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese
• Robert S. Bauer (2010), “The Graphemic Representation of English Loanwords in Cantonese”, in Dialects in South East China, number 24, →JSTOR, pages 227-246

Danish

Etymology

From French social, from Latin sociālis (“concerning a partner or an ally”), an adjective derived from the noun socius (“partner, ally”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [soˈɕæˀl], [ɕoˈɕæˀl]

Adjective

social (neuter socialt, plural and definite singular attributive sociale)

1. social
2. sociable

Further reading

• “social” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “social” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

French

Etymology

From Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion, companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, ally”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.sjal/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: so‧cial
• Homophones: sociale, sociales

Adjective

social (feminine sociale, masculine plural sociaux, feminine plural sociales)

1. social, related to society, community

   Un devoir social. ― A social obligation.

2. social, living in society

   l'homme est un animal social. ― Man is a social animal.

3. mundane, related to social life
   • 1922, Marcel Proust, Fugitive:

     Était-ce parce que la vie sociale de Gilberte devait présenter les mêmes contrastes que celle de Swann ?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Synonyms

• grégaire

Antonyms

• antisocial
• asocial

Derived terms

• anxiété sociale
• bailleur social
• cas social
• classe sociale
• contrat social
• crédit social
• distanciation sociale
• justice sociale
• logement social
• réseau social
• sécurité sociale
• siège social
• social-démocrate
• social-démocratie
• socialement
• socialisant
• socialisation
• socialiser
• socialisme
• socialiste
• socialité
• socialo
• statut social
• vie sociale

Related terms

• sociétaire
• sociétal
• société
• socio-

Descendants

• → Dutch: sociaal
  • Afrikaans: sosiaal
  • → Indonesian: sosial
• → Romanian: social
• → Turkish: sosyal

Noun

social m (plural sociaux)

1. action intended to make society work better

   faire du social. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Further reading

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

Galician

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷéh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-ṓy

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷh₂ṓy

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *sokʷyós

Proto-Italic *sokjos

Latin sokios

Latin socius

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin sociālislbor.

Galician social

Learned borrowing from Latin sociālis.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sɔˈθjal/ [s̺ɔˈθjɑɫ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /sɔˈθjal/ [s̺ɔˈθjɑɫ]
• IPA^(key): (seseo) /sɔˈsjal/ [sɔˈsjɑɫ]

• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: so‧cial

Adjective

social m or f (plural sociais)

1. social

Derived terms

• socializar
• socialmente

Further reading

• “social”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Italian

Etymology

Ellipsis of social network.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

social m

1. social network
   • 2019 October 1, “Zuckerberg è pronto alla battaglia contro Warren e TikTok (e Facebook non perde utenti)”, in Corriere della Sera‎^[5]:

     TikTok è sia la prima piattaforma cinese a imporsi nel resto del mondo sia l’unico social a ottenere numeri finora inanellati solo da Menlo Park (500 milioni di utenti), eppure non sembra causare particolari grattacapi.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (in the plural) social media

   postare sui social ― to post on social media

   • 2018 January 25, ““Un inconveniente tecnico”: il tweet di Trenord fa infuriare i social, poi le scuse”, in La Stampa‎^[6]:

     «Circolazione interrotta tra Treviglio e Milano a causa di un inconveniente tecnico a un treno»: è il tweet di Trenord delle 8.09 che ha fatto infuriare i social dopo il deragliamento a Seggiano di Pioltello.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Anagrams

• Alciso, lascio, lasciò, licosa, olisca, salcio, salico, scialo, scialo-, scialò, scolai, solcai

Middle French

Etymology

First known attestation 1355, borrowed from Latin sociālis.

Adjective

social m (feminine singular sociale, masculine plural sociaulx, feminine plural sociales)

1. allied (on the same side)
2. social (tending to spend time with others)

Descendants

• → English: social
• French: social

References

• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “social”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.

Occitan

Alternative forms

• sociau (Gascony)

Etymology

From Latin sociālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [suˈsjal]

• Audio (Languedoc):

  (file)

Adjective

social m (feminine singular sociala, masculine plural socials, feminine plural socialas)

1. social (relating to society)

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /suˈt͡ʃal/

Adjective

social

1. social

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin sociālis. By surface analysis, sócio +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /so.siˈaw/ [so.siˈaʊ̯], (faster) /soˈsjaw/ [soˈsjaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈsjal/ [suˈsjaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈsjal/ [suˈsjaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /suˈsja.li/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: so‧ci‧al

Adjective

social m or f (plural sociais)

1. social (relating to society)
2. (business) social (relating to business firms)
3. (clothing, said of clothes) formal, suitable for social occasions
4. social; outgoing; extroverted

   Synonyms: sociável, extrovertido

   Antonym: associal

5. (ecology) social (living in large groups)
6. (Brazil) for use by the residents of an apartment block, as opposed to maintenance workers or deliverymen

   Elevador social. ― Residents’ lift.

Derived terms

• antissocial
• associal
• bateria social
• rede social
• socializar
• socialmente
• vida social

Related terms

• sócio

Noun

social m or f (plural sociais)

1. (Brazil, informal) a small party between close people or friends

Further reading

• “social”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “social” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “social”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French social.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌso.t͡ʃiˈal/

Adjective

social m or n (feminine singular socială, masculine plural sociali, feminine/neuter plural sociale)

1. social (of or relating to society)

Declension

Declension of social

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	social		socială	sociali	sociale
	definite	socialul		sociala	socialii	socialele
genitive- dative	indefinite	social		sociale	sociali	sociale
	definite	socialului		socialei	socialilor	socialelor

Further reading

• “social”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin sociālis (“of or belonging to a companion, companionship or association, social”), from socius (“a companion, ally”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /soˈθjal/ [soˈθjal] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /soˈsjal/ [soˈsjal] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: so‧cial

Adjective

social m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociales)

1. social

Derived terms

• agente social
• ansiedad social
• antisocial
• asistencia social
• asistente social
• asocial
• capital social
• centro social
• ciencia social
• clase social
• cohesión social
• construcción social
• constructo social
• contacto social
• darwinismo social
• diálogo social
• distanciamiento social
• domicilio social
• exclusión social
• fobia social
• gasto social
• grupo social
• juego de deducción social (“social deduction game”)
• justicia social
• medios sociales
• obra social
• presión social
• prestación social
• psicología social
• razón social
• red social
• resentimiento social
• seguridad social
• seguro social
• socialmente
• tejido social
• trabajador social
• trastorno de ansiedad social

Further reading

• “social”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sosiˈɑːl/, /soˈɧɑːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

social (comparative mer social, superlative mest social)

1. (not comparable) social, pertaining to living conditions and society (of an issue)
2. social, kind, friendly, welcoming, outgoing (of a person)

   Synonyms: utåtriktad, sällskaplig, föreningsintresserad

Declension

Inflection of social

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	social	mer social	mest social
neuter singular	socialt	mer socialt	mest socialt
plural	sociala	mer sociala	mest sociala
masculine plural2	sociale	mer sociala	mest sociala
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	sociale	mer sociale	mest sociale
all	sociala	mer sociala	mest sociala

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Related terms

• antisocial
• asocial
• social distansering
• socialbidrag
• socialdarwinism
• socialdemokrat
• socialdepartement
• socialfall
• socialfond
• socialförsäkring
• socialisering
• socialism
• socialist
• socialkontor
• socialminister
• socialrealism

References

• “social”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “social”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)