Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) The relationship of men to one another when associated in any way; companionship; fellowship; company.

2. (n.) Connection; participation; partnership.

3. (n.) A number of persons associated for any temporary or permanent object; an association for mutual or joint usefulness, pleasure, or profit; a social union; a partnership; as, a missionary society.

4. (n.) The persons, collectively considered, who live in any region or at any period; any community of individuals who are united together by a common bond of nearness or intercourse; those who recognize each other as associates, friends, and acquaintances.

5. (n.) Specifically, the more cultivated portion of any community in its social relations and influences; those who mutually give receive formal entertainments.