sociable

English

Etymology

From Middle French sociable, from Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsoʊʃəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

sociable (comparative more sociable, superlative most sociable)

1. (of a person) Tending to socialize or be social.

   Synonyms: friendly, inviting, congenial

   He's normally pretty quiet, but he gets much more sociable around women.

   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Society is no comfort to one not sociable.

2. Offering opportunities for conversation; characterized by much conversation.

   a sociable party

3. (archaic) Capable of being, or fit to be, united in one body or company; associable.
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     They are sociable parts united into one body.

4. (obsolete) No longer hostile; friendly.
   • c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Philaster: Or, Love Lies a Bleeding”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Is the King sociable And bids thee live ?

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “tending to socialize”): unsociable

Derived terms

• sociability
• sociable lapwing
• sociableness
• sociable number
• sociable plover
• sociable weaver
• sociable weaverbird

 

Translations

tending to socialize or be social; friendly; inviting; congenial

• Belarusian: тавары́скі (tavarýski)
• Bulgarian: общителен (bg) (obštitelen), приятелски (bg) (prijatelski)
• Catalan: sociable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 社交的 (zh) (shèjiāo de)

• Finnish: seurallinen, sosiaalinen (fi)
• French: sociable (fr)
• Galician: falangueiro (gl)
• Georgian: მეგობრული (megobruli), კომუნიკაბელური (ḳomuniḳabeluri), ურთიერთობის მოყვარული (urtiertobis moq̇varuli), კონტაქტური (ḳonṭakṭuri)
• German: gesellig (de)
• Hungarian: társaságkedvelő (hu), barátkozó (hu), közvetlen (hu)
• Irish: caidreamhach, cuideachtúil
• Italian: socievole (it)
• Japanese: 社交的な (ja) (しゃこうてきな, shakōteki na)
• Maori: whakahoahoa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: selskapelig

  Nynorsk: selskapeleg, selskapleg

• Polish: towarzyski (pl)
• Portuguese: sociável (pt)
• Romanian: sociabil (ro)
• Russian: общи́тельный (ru) (obščítelʹnyj), коммуника́бельный (ru) (kommunikábelʹnyj), конта́ктный (ru) (kontáktnyj), компане́йский (ru) (kompanéjskij)
• Spanish: sociable (es), comerciable (es), gregario (es)
• Tagalog: halubilo, mahalubilo
• Ukrainian: товари́ський (tovarýsʹkyj), компані́йський (kompaníjsʹkyj)

Noun

sociable (plural sociables)

1. A sociable person.
2. (historical) A four-wheeled open carriage with seats facing each other.
3. A bicycle or tricycle for two persons side by side.
4. A couch with a curved S-shaped back.
5. (US) An informal party or church meeting for purposes of socializing.
   • 1903, George Horace Lorimer, Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to his Son, page 46:

     At the church sociables he used to hop around among them, chipping and chirping like a dicky-bird picking up seed; and he was a great hand to play the piano, and sing saddish, sweetish songs to them.

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Adjective

sociable (epicene, plural sociables)

1. sociable

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sociābilis.

Adjective

sociable m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociables)

1. sociable

Further reading

• “sociable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “sociable”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “sociable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “sociable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.sjabl/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

sociable (plural sociables)

1. sociable

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Alternative forms

• sociábel

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɔ.ˈθja.ble/, [s̺ɔ.ˈθja.βle̝]

Adjective

sociable m or f (plural sociables)

1. sociable

   Antonym: insociable

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, since 2012

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin sociābilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /soˈθjable/ [soˈθja.β̞le]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /soˈsjable/ [soˈsja.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: so‧cia‧ble

Adjective

sociable m or f (masculine and feminine plural sociables)

1. sociable

Derived terms

• sociabilidad
• sociabilizar

 

Further reading

• “sociable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014