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

"While there is evidence of individual variations in vocal repertoires, sperm whales belonging to the same social unit share a common vocal repertoire that persists across many years -- these are referred to as part of the same clan," says lead author Antonio Leitao, a PhD student at Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and member of Project CETI.

From Science Daily

They generated subcoda trees for each social unit and, when they compared between them, the team discovered that trees from different social units within the same clan were much more similar than those between members of different clans.

From Science Daily

“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

In primary debates, men frequently introduce themselves as good fathers and grandfathers—in other words, as competent executives in the social unit of the family.

From Scientific American