social structure

[ soh-shuhl struhk-cher ]

noun

1. Sociology.
   1. the system or complex of beliefs held by members of a social group.
   2. the system of relations between the constituent groups of a society.
   3. the relationship between or the interrelated arrangement of the social institutions of a society or culture, as of mores, marriage customs, or family.
   4. the pattern of relationships, as of status or friendship, existing among the members of a group or society.

Word History and Origins

Origin of social structure¹

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

The differences between mole-rats’ vocal signatures are instead a learned part of their social structure.

From Popular-Science

What we’re talking about is making pretty substantial changes to how most of our social structures are set up and how we think about relating to other people.

From Vox

There is no escaping the limits of our bodies, the limits of medicine, and the brokenness of social structures that make and keep people sick.

From Nautilus

These past few months have taught me a lot about myself, my daughters, my bond with them, and the value of social structures that I took for granted.

From Quartz

Technologies like artificial intelligence and automation may help relieve the work burdens of millions of people—but to benefit from their impact, we need to start changing our social structures and the way we think about work now.

From Singularity Hub 

One blames black Americans as a race; the other, racism as a social structure.

From The Daily Beast

While many Hawaiians still secretly worshipped the old gods, kapu was dead as a public pillar of the social structure.

From The Daily Beast

The old social structure had been disrupted in the civil convulsion, and the old political order likewise.

From Project Gutenberg

Trask's efforts to explain the political and social structure of the Sword-Worlds met the same incomprehension from Bentrik.

From Project Gutenberg

From thence they were sent by ship to Europe, and the great social structure they had erected fell forthwith to the ground.

From Project Gutenberg

Bentham's method may be applicable at a given moment, when the social structure is already consolidated and uniform.

From Project Gutenberg

In the inchoate phase of their development they are but different aspects of the same general facts of social structure.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• food chain
• hierarchy
• power structure