gesellschaft: Meaning and Definition of

ge•sell•schaft

Pronunciation: (Ger. gu-zel'shäft"), [key]
— pl. -schaf•ten
  1. an association of individuals for common goals, as for entertainment, intellectual, or cultural purposes or for business reasons.
  2. a society or group characterized chiefly by formal organization, impersonal relations, the absence of generally held or binding norms, and a detachment from traditional and sentimental concerns, and often tending to be rationalistic and secular in outlook. Cf. Gemeinschaft.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.