Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

friendly society

noun

Definition of friendly society

British
: a mutual association for providing life and health insurance and old-age pension benefits to members

See friendly society defined for English-language learners

First Known Use of friendly society

1684

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year
NEW! Time Traveler

FRIENDLY SOCIETY Defined for English Language Learners

friendly society

noun

Definition of friendly society for English Language Learners

  • : an association in which members pay money to receive benefits when they are old or sick

Learn More about friendly society

  1. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about friendly society

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up friendly society? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

effigy

play

a figure representing a hated person

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. asylum 'protection from arrest and extradition given especially to political refugees'

  2. insubordinate 'disobedient to authority'

  3. promulgate 'to make known by open declaration'

  4. epochal 'momentous or unparalleled'

  5. clemency 'merciful treatment of someone who could be given harsh punishment'

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

friendly society

Test Your Vocabulary

Words for Summer: A Quiz

  • a-closeup-of-a-sunflower
  • Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Dictionary Devil

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games