different between presence vs society

English

Alternative forms

• præsence (archaic)

Etymology

Through Old French presence, from Latin praesentia (“a being present”), from praesentem. Displaced native Old English andweardnes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??z?ns/
• Hyphenation: pres?ence

Noun

presence (countable and uncountable, plural presences)

1. The fact or condition of being present, or of being within sight or call, or at hand.

   • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

2. The part of space within one's immediate vicinity.

3. A quality of poise and effectiveness that enables a performer to achieve a close relationship with their audience.
4. A quality that sets an individual out from others; a quality that makes them noticed and/or admired even if they are not speaking or performing.

5. Something (as a spirit) felt or believed to be present.

6. A company's business activity in a particular market. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
7. (archaic) An assembly of great persons.
8. The state of being closely focused on the here and now, not distracted by irrelevant thoughts. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
9. (audio) Synonym of room tone

Antonyms

• absence

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

presence (third-person singular simple present presences, present participle presencing, simple past and past participle presenced)

1. (philosophy, transitive, intransitive) To make or become present.
   • 1985, David Edward Shaner, The Bodymind Experience in Japanese Buddhism: A Phenomenological Study of K?kai and D?gen, page 59,

     Within a completely neutral horizon, the primordial continuous stream of experience is presenced without interruption. As this time, the past and future have no meaning apart from the now in which they are presenced.

   • 1998, H. Peter Steeves, Founding Community: A Phenomenological-Ethical Inquiry, page 59,

     Just as the bread and butter can be presenced as more than just the bread and the butter, so baking a loaf of bread can be more than just the baking, the baker, and the bread.

   • 2005, James Phillips, Heidegger's Volk: Between National Socialism and Poetry, Stanford University Press, ?ISBN (paperback), page 118,

     From the overtaxing of the regime's paranoiac classifications and monitoring of the social field, Heidegger was to await in vain the presencing of that which is present, the revelation of the Being of beings in its precedence to governmental control.

Related terms

• present
• presentation
• omnipresence

Further reading

• presence in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “presence”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• presence in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Alternative forms

• soc. (abbreviation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French societé , from Latin societ?s, societ?tem (“fellowship, association, alliance, union, community”), from socius (“associated, allied; partner, companion, ally”), from Proto-Indo-European *sok?-yo- (“companion”), from Proto-Indo-European *sek?- (“to follow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??sa?.?.ti/

Noun

society (countable and uncountable, plural societies)

1. (countable) A long-standing group of people sharing cultural aspects such as language, dress, norms of behavior and artistic forms.
2. (countable) A group of people who meet from time to time to engage in a common interest; an association or organization.

   • At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors. […] In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.

3. (countable) The sum total of all voluntary interrelations between individuals.
4. (uncountable) The people of one’s country or community taken as a whole.
5. (uncountable) High society.
6. (countable, law) A number of people joined by mutual consent to deliberate, determine and act toward a common goal.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• "society" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 291.