social unit

noun

1. a person or a group of persons, as a family, functioning as a unit in society.

Word History and Origins

Origin of social unit¹

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Previous work on sperm whale communication has mostly used vocal repertoires to distinguish between individual whales, social units, or clans.

From Science Daily

By contrast, a son doesn’t bring more mouths into the group—he mates with females in passing pods who then go on to raise offspring in their own social units.

From Science Magazine

“It was really awful for me. We aren’t a big family, but we have our mishpachah,” — the Yiddish word for family or social unit — “and our traditions.”

From New York Times

Chesney said his mission is to build a sustainable social unit that looks after the water.

From Fox News

Or the people could have united in larger and more disciplined social units for the sake of ambitious group efforts that no loosely organized tribal society would have been able to achieve.

From Literature