sociology

From French sociologie, coined by Auguste Comte in 1834, itself a combination of Latin socius (“companion, fellowship”) and the Greek suffix Ancient Greek -λογία (-logía), itself from Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos, “word, knowledge”), from socio- +‎ -logy.

Previous mentions of the field in English usually referred to it as social physics.^[1]

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sō-shē-ŏl′-əjē IPA^(key): /ˌsəʊsiːˈɒləd͡ʒiː/, /ˌsəʊʃiːˈɒləd͡ʒiː/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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• (General American, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌsoʊsiˈɑləd͡ʒi/, /ˌsoʊʃiˈɑləd͡ʒi/
• (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ˌsoʊsiˈɒləd͡ʒi/, /ˌsoʊʃiˈɒləd͡ʒi/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌsəʉsiːˈɔləd͡ʒiː/, /ˌsəʉʃiːˈɔləd͡ʒiː/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌsɐʉsiːˈɒləd͡ʒiː/, [ˌsɐʉsiːˈɔ̟ləd͡ʒiː], /ˌsɐʉʃiːˈɒləd͡ʒiː/, [ˌsɐʉʃiːˈɔ̟ləd͡ʒiː]

sociology (plural sociologies)

2. A social science that studies society, human social interaction, patterns of social relationships, and the interactions of culture. Through both theory and applied research, it engages subject matters across a range of microanalysis, mesoanalysis, and macroanalysis.
   • 2024 November 20, Fortesa Latifi, “How These Men Left the Manosphere — and Why Some May Never”, in Teen Vogue‎^[2]:

     Maisie says that Danny entered the manosphere through the realm of self-help, which Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a sociology professor at American University who specializes in extremism, says is “a great example of how radicalization works.”

• See also Thesaurus:sociology

• anthropology
• psychology

• "sociology" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 295.