社 meaning and stroke order
(bound form) society; organization; agency; (old) god of the land
How to write 社, stroke by stroke
7 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Meaning of 社
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) society; organization; agency
- (old) god of the land
How 社 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. An earth 土 spirit 礻; 礻 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 礻 (spirit), shared by 43 characters on this site.
How to remember 社
社 puts the spirit sign 礻 next to earth 土, so picture an altar to the god of the soil. In old villages people gathered around that altar, which is how the character came to mean a group of people or society.
社 is a bound form, so it almost always appears inside words like 社会 (shèhuì, society), 社区 (shèqū, community) and 社交 (shèjiāo, social interaction). As a suffix it names organizations, such as 旅行社 (lǚxíngshè, travel agency) and 出版社 (chūbǎnshè, publishing house). Example: 我在一家旅行社工作。(Wǒ zài yì jiā lǚxíngshè gōngzuò.) I work at a travel agency.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as 衤 (the clothing radical, with an extra dot) instead of 礻, which turns the shape toward characters like 衬 (chèn). Remember that 社 relates to spirits, so it takes 礻 like 神 (shén) and 祖 (zǔ).
Common words with 社
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 社会 | shèhuì | society | HSK 3 |
| 旅行社 | lǚxíngshè | travel agency | HSK 3 |
| 社区 | shèqū | community; neighborhood | HSK 5 |
| 社交 | shèjiāo | social interaction | HSK 7-9 |
| 报社 | bàoshè | newspaper (i.e. a company) | HSK 7-9 |
| 社团 | shètuán | association; society | HSK 7-9 |
| 社会主义 | shèhuì zhǔyì | socialism | HSK 7-9 |
| 出版社 | chūbǎnshè | publishing house | HSK 7-9 |
| 社论 | shèlùn | editorial (in a newspaper) | HSK 7-9 |
| 合作社 | hézuòshè | cooperative; workers' or agricultural producers' cooperative etc | HSK 7-9 |
| 社长 | shèzhǎng | president or director (of association etc) | |
| 黑社会 | hēishèhuì | criminal underworld; organized crime syndicate | |
| 社工 | shègōng | social work; social worker | |
| 杂志社 | zázhìshè | magazine publisher |
社 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 社
How many strokes are in 社?
社 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 社 mean?
社 (shè) means (bound form) society; organization; agency; (old) god of the land. A common word with it is 社会 (shèhuì), meaning "society".
How do you pronounce 社?
社 is pronounced shè, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 社?
The radical of 社 is 礻, which carries the idea of "spirit". Dictionaries list 社 under this radical.
Is 社 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 社 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
Can 社 be used on its own as a word?
Not in modern Chinese. You need a full word like 社会 or 社团, or a compound ending in 社 such as 报社 (bàoshè, newspaper office).
What is the difference between 社区 and 小区?
社区 (shèqū) is a community or neighborhood in a social or administrative sense. 小区 (xiǎoqū) usually means a specific residential compound of apartment buildings.