building society
1
3.4
- noun
- /ˈbɪldɪŋ səˈsaɪəti/
- UK
:
sociedad de construcción
- A building society can help you secure a loan for purchasing a property.
- banks and building society
And I also think that people think their money's safe in a building society or bank.
- And I also think that people think their money's safe in a building society or bank.
- Those of you who live in India and in South Africa know that you borrow money still today from the building society, not from a bank.
Examples
-
Subsequently, the UK's largest building society was fined GBP 980,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Blog text (22) -
And I also think that people think their money's safe in a building society or bank.
-
Northern Rock began as the product of a merger between two building societies in 1965.
Academic text (2016) -
It remained a building society until 1997 when Northern Rock became a publicly traded bank.
Academic text (2016) -
Many first-time buyers choose a building society for favorable mortgage rates.
-
She opened an account at her local building society to save for a new home.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A place where people keep and borrow money
12
3.0
A business that takes money from people and businesses, lends it, and helps with payments
1
2.8
A company that accepts people's money as deposits and lends it to others
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'building' (housing/edifice) and 'society' (an association), so a B1 learner could infer it refers to an organized group concerned with buildings or housing, giving a clear hint toward housing-related services. However, the specific institutional sense — a UK financial institution that accepts deposits and lends for house purchase — is a conventionalized, regionally specific meaning that is not fully predictable from the parts alone, so prior exposure or explanation is usually required.
Etymology
The compound noun building society comes from a simple idea: in the past, people formed a small society to build houses together and put money together. They saved and lent money to members to buy homes, so today a building society is like a bank that helps people save and get loans for houses.