Editing Society (section)

==Etymology and usage==
{{wide image|Gu Hongzhong's Night Revels 1.jpg|700px|A half-section of the 12th-century [[Song dynasty#Southern Song, 1127–1279|Southern Song dynasty]] version of ''[[The Night Revels of Han Xizai]]'', original by [[Gu Hongzhong]] in the 10th century. The painting portrays servants, musicians, monks, children, guests, and hosts all in a single social environment. It serves as an in-depth look into the Chinese social structure of the time.}}

The term "society" came from the 12th Century French ''société'' (meaning 'company').<ref>{{cite web |title=Society |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/society#h2 |website=Merriam-webster dictionary |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref> This was in turn from the [[Latin]] word ''[[Wikt:societas|societas]]'', which in turn was derived from the noun ''socius'' ("[[comrade]], friend, ally"; adjectival form ''socialis'') used to describe a bond or interaction between parties that are friendly, or at least civil. Without an article, the term can refer to the entirety of humanity (also: "society in general", "society at large", etc.), although those who are unfriendly or uncivil to the remainder of society in this sense may be deemed to be "antisocial". In the 1630s it was used in reference to "people bound by neighborhood and intercourse aware of living together in an ordered community".<ref>{{cite web |title=Society (n.) |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/society#etymonline_v_23814 |website=Online Etymological Dictionary |access-date=6 May 2021}}</ref> However, in the 18th century the [[Scotland|Scottish]] economist, [[Adam Smith]] taught that a society "may subsist among different men, as among different merchants, from a sense of its [[utility]] without any mutual [[love]] or affection, if only they refrain from doing injury to each other."<ref name=Briggs9/>

Used in the sense of an [[Voluntary association|association]], a society is a body of individuals outlined by the bounds of functional [[interdependence]], possibly comprising characteristics such as [[national identity|national]] or [[cultural identity]], [[social solidarity]], [[language]], or [[hierarchy|hierarchical structure]].