society

/səˈsaɪ.ə.ti/

//səˈsaɪ.ə.ti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"society" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“society” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #700. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#700
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A long-standing group of people sharing cultural aspects such as language, dress, norms of behavior and artistic forms.

Corpus desk

Index EN-society · society · English

society · rank #700 · 10 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #700
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH policy

Nearest frequency peer: policy (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “society”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “society” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

society vs soviet
71% similar
society vs socket
71% similar
society vs societal
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for society
PropertyValue
Headwordsociety
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/səˈsaɪ.ə.ti/
Letters7
Frequency rank#700
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “society” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). society lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around society (IPA /səˈsaɪ.ə.ti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #700 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for society, with forms such as "osciety", "scoiety", and "socciety". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "soviet", "socket", "societal", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 Lati… The correct English form is society, spelled S-O-C-I-E-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A long-standing group of people sharing cultural aspects such as language, dress, norms of behavior and artistic forms.
  2. 2
    A group of people who meet from time to time to engage in a common interest; an association or organization.
  3. 3
    The sum total of all voluntary interrelations between individuals.
  4. 4
    The people of one’s country or community taken as a whole.
  5. 5
    High society.
  6. 6
    A number of people joined by mutual consent to deliberate, determine and act toward a common goal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how society appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This society has been known for centuries for its colorful clothing and tight-knit family structure.
  2. He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.

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 *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin societāslbor. Old French societé Middle French societébor. English society Borrowed from Middle French societé, from Old French societé, from Latin societās, societātem (“fellowship, association, alliance, union, community”), from socius (“associated, allied; partner, companion, ally”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷ-yo- (“companion”), from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”). First attested in the 1530s.

This word in other languages

sociedad(Español)société(Français)Gesellschaft(Deutsch)sociedade(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • osciety
  • scoiety
  • socciety
  • soceity
  • societty
  • societyy
  • socieyt
  • socitey
  • soicety
  • ssociety

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of society - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

osciety2scoiety2socciety1soceity2societty1societyy1socieyt2socitey2
Edit distance from "society"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "society"?
"society" is spelled S-O-C-I-E-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /səˈsaɪ.ə.ti/.
What does "society" mean?
As a noun, "society" means: A long-standing group of people sharing cultural aspects such as language, dress, norms of behavior and artistic forms.
What words are commonly confused with "society"?
"society" is commonly confused with "soviet", "socket", "societal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "society"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "society" is /səˈsaɪ.ə.ti/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "society"?
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 *s... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "society", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

average#704brought#706certain#707finally#690

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

church10 variantsmedical10 variantsmeeting10 variantsrights10 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "society". Here's where to go from here.

  • "society" maps to 4 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "soviet". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #700 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list