gesellschaft

[ German guh-zel-shahft ]

/ German gəˈzɛlˌʃɑft /

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noun, plural ge·sell·schaf·ten

[German guh-zel-shahf-tuhn]. /German gəˈzɛlˌʃɑf tən/. (often initial capital letter)

an association of individuals for common goals, as for entertainment, intellectual, or cultural purposes or for business reasons.

Sociology. a society or group characterized chiefly by formal organization, impersonal relations, the absence of generally held or binding norms, and a detachment from traditional and sentimental concerns, and often tending to be rationalistic and secular in outlook.

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Compare gemeinschaft.

Origin of gesellschaft

1935–40; <German, equivalent to Geselle companion + -schaft-ship

Words nearby gesellschaft

Gerzean, Gesamtkunstwerk, geschrei, Gesell, Gesell Developmental Schedules, gesellschaft, Gesner, gesneria, gesneriad, gesneria family, Gessen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gesellschaft in a sentence

Another society of note was the still existing and flourishing Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.
Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician|Frederick Niecks
Gesellschaft (Berlin, 1906) and Religionsgeschichtlicher u. gesch.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 4|Various
Schindler somewhere censures the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde for its long delay in making Beethoven an honorary member.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume II (of 3)|Alexander Wheelock Thayer
So Pohl, who wrote a history of the Gesellschaft, informed Thayer in a note.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume III (of 3)|Alexander Wheelock Thayer

The autograph is preserved by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna.
The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven, Volume III (of 3)|Alexander Wheelock Thayer

British Dictionary definitions for gesellschaft

gesellschaft

/ (German ɡəˈzɛlʃaft) /

noun plural -schaften (German -ʃaftən)

(often capital) a social group held together by practical concerns, formal and impersonal relationships, etcCompare gemeinschaft

Word Origin for gesellschaft

German, literally: society

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012