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Glite Dictionary
social anthropology

social anthropology

1 5.9
The study of how people live together, their groups, rules, and customs
  • noun
  • /ˈsoʊʃəl ˌænθrəˈpɑlədʒi/
translation icon : antropología social
  • So Andrew, this is John, first year PhD student from social anthropology here at Harvard.
  • British social anthropology

So he goes into social anthropology instead.

Examples

  • British social anthropology, for example, frequently started with the assumption that every custom and institution had the function of promoting the cohesion of the group.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Began writing a paper for my social anthropology class.

    Officer Down (2013)

  • Social anthropology is concerned with the variety of ways that human beings live.

    Academic text (1993)

  • I have a Ph.D. in social anthropology and thought I was going to be a scholar of nationalism and cultural revival.

    Blog text (20)

  • E. E. Evans-Pritchard, later professor of social anthropology at Oxford University, had close contact with the Bedouin of Libya during World War II.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The study of social anthropology helps us understand the complex dynamics of human societies.

  • She chose social anthropology as her major because she was fascinated by different cultures.

  • In social anthropology, researchers examine how people interact within their communities.

Synonyms

cultural anthropology
vssocial anthropology
2 5.8

The study of how people in different groups live and share beliefs and customs

focuses more on social relationships and institutional structures

Surface Forms

social anthropology singular
social anthropologies plural

Morphology

social + anthropology

The meaning 'the branch of anthropology that studies human societies and social relationships' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'social' (relating to society) with 'anthropology' (the study of humans). This adjective + noun composition is a regular, cross-linguistic compounding pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Social anthropology comes from the words social and anthropology: social means 'groups and relationships' and anthropology means 'the study of humans'. Anthropologists often live with a community to watch how people organize their daily life, so the name shows it studies societies and their rules.