société civile

\sɔ.sje.te si.vil\

/\sɔ.sje.te si.vil\/ noun

The verdict

“société civile” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Société non commerciale soumise au droit civil.

Key facts for société civile
PropertyValue
Headwordsociété civile
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\sɔ.sje.te si.vil\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “société civile” sits in French frequency

société civile falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

société civile is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \sɔ.sje.te si.vil\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

société civile has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is société civile, spelled S-O-C-I-É-T-É- -C-I-V-I-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Société non commerciale soumise au droit civil.
  2. 2
    Ensemble des acteurs économiques et politiques d’une nation.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "société civile"?
"société civile" is spelled S-O-C-I-É-T-É- -C-I-V-I-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is \sɔ.sje.te si.vil\.
What does "société civile" mean?
As a noun, "société civile" means: Société non commerciale soumise au droit civil.
How do you pronounce "société civile"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "société civile" is \sɔ.sje.te si.vil\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "société civile" come from?
"société civile" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “société civile”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is S-O-C-I-É-T-É- -C-I-V-I-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \sɔ.sje.te si.vil\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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