Sociology is the science of how societies and groups work. Study sociology, a sociology degree, the sociology of it.
It looks at structures rather than individuals — class, institutions, networks, norms — which is what separates it from psychology. The name was coined by Auguste Comte in 1834, and the discipline's founding arguments come from Durkheim, Marx and Weber. Note sociologist, sociological; and that the word is a hybrid, half Latin and half Greek, which purists objected to at the time and lost.
1nounsociologyThe science of how societies and groups work.
“She studied sociology and wrote her thesis on how families have changed.”
sociology is an academic subject.
French sociologie was coined by Auguste Comte in 1834, joining Latin socius, a companion, to the Greek -logia. The mixed parentage was criticised then and is invisible now.
Ancient Greek
-λογία
Latin
socius — companion, fellowship
French
sociologie
English, today
sociology
From French sociologie, coined by Auguste Comte in 1834, itself a combination of Latin socius (“companion, fellowship”) and the Greek suffix Ancient Greek -λογία, itself from Ancient Greek λόγος (“word, knowledge”), from socio- + -logy. Previous mentions of the field in English usually referred to it as social physics.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA