社 meaning in English
(bound form) society; organization; agency; (old) god of the land
Meaning of 社
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (bound form) society; organization; agency
- (old) god of the land
How to use 社
社 is a bound form, so it almost always appears inside a word. It is used for society in general, as in 社会 (shèhuì), or for an organization or agency, as in 旅行社 (lǚxíngshè) and 报社 (bàoshè). Example: 我在一家旅行社工作。(Wǒ zài yì jiā lǚxíngshè gōngzuò.) I work at a travel agency.
社 is made of 礻, the altar or spirit side, and 土 (tǔ), earth. Picture people gathering at an altar to the god of the land, and that gathering becomes a society or organization.
Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as 衤 (the clothing radical, with an extra stroke) instead of 礻, which turns it into a wrong character. Also keep the fourth tone in shè and do not confuse it with 设 (shè, to set up), as in 设计 (shèjì).
社 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
社 shè · society · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 社.
| 社会 | shèhuì | society |
| 旅行社 | lǚxíngshè | travel agency |
| 社区 | shèqū | community; neighborhood |
| 社交 | shèjiāo | social interaction |
| 报社 | bàoshè | newspaper (i.e. a company) |
| 社团 | shètuán | association; society |
| 社会主义 | shèhuì zhǔyì | socialism |
| 出版社 | chūbǎnshè | publishing house |
| 社论 | shèlùn | editorial (in a newspaper) |
| 合作社 | hézuòshè | cooperative; workers' or agricultural producers' cooperative etc |
| 社长 | shèzhǎng | president or director (of association etc) |
| 黑社会 | hēishèhuì | criminal underworld; organized crime syndicate |
Questions about 社
What does 社 mean?
社 (shè) means "(bound form) society; organization; agency; (old) god of the land" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 社?
社 is made of 1 character: 社 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 社 an HSK word?
Yes. 社 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I use 社 by itself to mean society?
Not usually. In modern Chinese you say 社会 (shèhuì) for society. 社 alone sounds incomplete except in fixed names or set phrases.
What is the difference between 社区 and 社团?
社区 (shèqū) is a residential community or neighborhood, a place where people live. 社团 (shètuán) is an association or club, such as a student club at a university.