social contract

[ soh-shuhl kon-trakt ]

/ ˈsoʊ ʃəl ˈkɒn trækt /

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noun

the voluntary agreement among individuals by which, according to any of various theories, as of Hobbes, Locke, or Rousseau, organized society is brought into being and invested with the right to secure mutual protection and welfare or to regulate the relations among its members.

an agreement for mutual benefit between an individual or group and the government or community as a whole.

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Also called so·cial com·pact

[soh-shuhl kom-pakt] /ˈsoʊ ʃəl ˈkɒm pækt/ .

Origin of social contract

First recorded in 1840–50

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

How to use social contract in a sentence

We need to build the new institutions and the new social compact that can harness its power and extend its benefits to everyone.
Did I Abandon My Creative Class Theory? Not So Fast, Joel Kotkin|Richard Florida|March 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The colonists of Plymouth had formed their social compact in the cabin of the Mayflower.
A short history of Rhode Island|George Washington Greene
It is true there are certain organized conventions, which men have devised to keep up what is called the social compact.
The Robbers|Friedrich Schiller
The present National Assembly of France is, strictly speaking, the personal social compact.
The Writings of Thomas Paine, Volume II|Thomas Paine

This conformity is an implied condition in the social compact.
How To Behave: A Pocket Manual Of Republican Etiquette, And Guide To Correct Personal Habits|Samuel R Wells
By the social compact we have given the body politic existence and life: we have now by legislation to give it movement and will.
The Social Contract & Discourses|Jean-Jacques Rousseau

British Dictionary definitions for social contract

social contract

social compact

noun

(in the theories of Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, and others) an agreement, entered into by individuals, that results in the formation of the state or of organized society, the prime motive being the desire for protection, which entails the surrender of some or all personal liberties

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