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Glite Dictionary
Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

1 6.2
A Roman Catholic religious order that runs schools and sends people to teach religion
  • proper noun
translation icon : Compañía de Jesús
  • The Society of Jesus focuses on education and community service around the world.
  • Province of the Society of Jesus

Examples

  • All the time I have been in the Society of Jesus, I have been occupied with duties without having a single year free for study.

    Academic text (2005)

  • He had, in his youth, entered the Society of Jesus and left years later in scandal.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • George Coyne is a Catholic priest, a member of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits, and a world-renowned astronomer.

    Blog text (4)

  • Since then, only one religious order has ever been founded—the Society of Jesus in 1540, another new type—in response to an emergency: the Reformation.

    Blog text (10)

  • He and the other Jesuits of the Central American Province of the Society of Jesus subsequently proposed, on March 27, 2000, that the case of the murder of the Jesuits, the housekeeper, and her daughter be reopened.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Currently owned by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University, the manuscript was discovered in the Villa Mondragone near Rome in 1912 by antique book dealer Wilfrid Voynich while sifting through a chest of books offered for sale by the Society of Jesus.

    Blog text (33)

  • Many schools and universities are affiliated with the Society of Jesus, promoting academic excellence and moral values.

  • Founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the Society of Jesus plays a crucial role in Catholic missionary work.

Synonyms

Jesuit order
vsSociety of Jesus
1 6.3

A group of Roman Catholic priests and brothers who work in education and missions

is the formal institutional title used for that same religious order

Surface Forms

Society of Jesus main

Morphology

society + of + Jesus

The phrase 'Society of Jesus' is compositionally transparent: 'society' (an association) + 'of' (belonging to) + 'Jesus' yields an association connected to Jesus, so a learner can infer it refers to a religious group. This follows a common cross‑linguistic naming pattern for organizations (e.g. Spanish 'Sociedad de Jesús'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will grasp the general meaning even if they may not know the specific history or the label 'Jesuits'.

Etymology

Society of Jesus comes from a small group of men in 1534 who promised to serve Jesus, so they called themselves a society, meaning a group, of Jesus. That's why today Society of Jesus refers to the Catholic religious group called the 'Jesuits', known for running schools and missions.