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social unit

American  

noun

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


Etymology

Origin of social unit

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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 • Feb. 6, 2019

"A church, a school, a village hall, any sign of some social unit is what we look for."

From BBC • Nov. 10, 2017

At the Pacific Street brownstone, the smallest social unit is the floor.

From The New Yorker • May 16, 2016

Perhaps it was a stable family and extended family living together that helped to keep the family togetjer as the most important social unit vice that of childhood peers and street gangs.

From New York Times • May 6, 2016

The Ekumen could not appeal to these people as a social unit, a mobilizable entity: rather it must speak to their strong though undeveloped sense of humanity, of human unity.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

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