sodality
Americannoun
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sodalities
plural
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fellowship; comradeship.
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an association or society.
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Roman Catholic Church. a lay society for religious and charitable purposes.
noun
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RC Church a religious or charitable society
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fraternity; fellowship
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sodality
1590–1600; < Latin sodālitās companionship, equivalent to sodāl ( is ) companion + -itās -ity
Explanation
A sodality is a group of people who share a common interest or career. Everyone who works as a firefighter is part of a large, supportive sodality. The Latin root of sodality is sodalis, "companion," and you can think of these non-family groups as places to find companionship or fellowship. The word originally described Catholic guilds, and it grew to include other associations, like the ones formed by groups of plumbers or forestry workers or teachers. If you're a babysitter, you could even establish a sodality of child-minders that meets regularly to socialize and trade tips on entertaining toddlers!
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.
See Examples For:
Charlie suggested to the local priest the idea of using the parish church's juvenile sodality - a religious group for young parishioners - as the basis for a football league.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026
The sodality was organised on the basis of the local streets - and so the street leagues were born.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2026
She was a member of the Woman’s Club of Chevy Chase, the Kiwanis Club and the sodality at the Catholic Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Washington.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 24, 2015
The precariousness of your community cannot hinge on a church building being available to you as though you were a mere sodality or guild.
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2014
Everyone knows Limerick is the holiest city in Ireland because it has the Arch Confraternity of the Holy Family, the biggest sodality in the world.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
They were busy: during the week, there were morning masses, evening devotions, sodalities, weddings, funerals and confessions.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 23, 2018
It is true that this resentment nourished him, sustaining his caustic "insider" journalism on the twisted sodalities traversing Washington politics, and later his criticism of Bill Clinton, Mother Teresa and Kissinger.
From The Guardian ● May 28, 2012
Legionary Johnson is also an Elk, a Shriner, a Mason and an Odd Fellow, all of which sodalities consider him a "regular fellow," a potential vote-getter.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some forgotten sodalities: For months the world-straddling empire of Henry Ford has quivered and groaned like a leviathan with acute indigestion.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the case of most of the sodalities membership entitled the member to the enjoyment of certain indulgences.
From Works of Martin Luther With Introductions and Notes (Volume II) by Martin Luther
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
