Definition of society (Entry 1 of 2) 1: companionship or association with one's fellows : friendly or intimate intercourse : COMPANY 2: a voluntary association of individuals for common ends especially : an organized group working together or periodically meeting because of common interests, beliefs, or profession 3a: an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another b: a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests 4a: a part of a community that is a unit distinguishable by particular aims or standards of living or conduct : a social circle or a group of social circles having a clearly marked identity literary society b: a part of the community that sets itself apart as a leisure class and that regards itself as the arbiter of fashion and manners 5a: a natural group of plants usually of a single species or habit within an association b: the progeny of a pair of insects when constituting a social unit (such as a hive of bees) broadly : an interdependent system of organisms or biological units