English

Alternative forms

• gesellschaft

Noun

Gesellschaft ‎(plural Gesellschaften or Gesellschafts)

1. (sociology) a hypothetical mode of society, made up of self-serving individuals linked by impersonal ties; as opposed to Gemeinschaft
   • 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:

     Seven years later, Hernández wrote a Return of Martín Fierro in which the Gaucho sells out: assimilates back into Christian society, gives up his freedom for the kind of constitutional Gesellschaft being pushed in those days by Buenos Aires.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German gesellescaft, from Old High German giselliscaft. Equivalent to Geselle +‎ -schaft.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡəˈzɛlʃaft]
• Hyphenation: Ge‧sell‧schaft

Noun

Gesellschaft f ‎(genitive Gesellschaft, plural Gesellschaften)

1. society, community
   • 1932, Erich Mühsam, Die Befreiung der Gesellschaft vom Staat, in: Erich Mühsam: Prosaschriften II, Verlag europäische ideen Berlin (1978), page 253:

     Immer wieder hören wir die Frage von Personen, denen die Gedankenwelt des Anarchismus nicht vertraut ist: Was wollt ihr eigentlich? Wie stellt ihr euch eine Gesellschaft ohne Staat und Obrigkeit vor?

     Again and again we hear the question from people who are not familiar with the world of ideas of anarchism: What do you actually want? How do you imagine a society without state and authorities?

2. (business) company

Declension

Derived terms

• Gesellschafter