社會

Wasei kango (和製漢語), orthographically borrowed from Japanese 社 (しゃ)会 (かい) (shakai, “society”), which was in turn a semantic readaptation of Chinese 社會／社会 (shèhuì, “public gathering for offering to the earth god”).

社會

1. society (aggregate of people living together); community

   理想社會 / 理想社会  ―  lǐxiǎng shèhuì  ―  ideal society

   社會秩序 / 社会秩序  ―  shèhuì zhìxù  ―  social order

   社會名人 / 社会名人  ―  shèhuì míngrén  ―  public figure

   回饋社會 / 回馈社会  ―  huíkuì shèhuì  ―  to give back to society

   服務社會 / 服务社会  ―  fúwù shèhuì  ―  to serve the community

   社會經濟發展 / 社会经济发展  ―  shèhuì jīngjì fāzhǎn  ―  socio-economic development

   半殖民地半封建社會 [MSC, trad.]
   半殖民地半封建社会 [MSC, simp.]

   bànzhímíndì bànfēngjiàn shèhuì [Pinyin]

   semicolonial and semifeudal society

2. class (world of a certain group of people)
3. (archaic) public gathering for offering to the earth god
4. (Mainland China, slang) mafia; gang

   混社會 / 混社会  ―  hùn shèhuì  ―  to be in a gang for a living (may also mean "to be in a society for a living")

Use 社會／社会 (shèhuì) when referring to society as an "aggregate of people living together". When society in the sense of "organization or club" is meant, use 社團／社团 (shètuán) or 協會／协会 (xiéhuì).

社會

1. (Mainland China, neologism, slang) thuggish; having the manner of a gangsta

   社會！社會！ / 社会！社会！  ―  Shèhuì! Shèhuì!  ―  [You're] thuggish! (jocular)

社會 (kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai kanji 社会, hiragana しゃかい, rōmaji shakai)

1. Kyūjitai form of 社会 (“society”)

社會 • (sahoe) (hangeul 사회)

1. Hanja form^? of 사회 (“society”).

社會

1. Hán tự form of xã hội (“society”).