Phrase guide

building society

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A type of financial institution which traditionally was based on lending money (as mortgages) to society members to purchase houses, from the pooled savings of other members or money borrowed wholesale.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK

Topics: banking, business

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

British equivalent of United States savings and loan association

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: savings and loan, savings and loan association

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 建房互助會 /建房互助会 (jiànfáng hùzhùhuì) — financial institution
  • Finnish: hypoteekkiyhdistys — financial institution
  • French: caisse d'épargne — financial institution
  • German: Bausparkasse — financial institution
  • Greek: οικοδομικός συνεταιρισμός (oikodomikós synetairismós) — financial institution
  • Japanese: 住宅金融組合 (jūtaku kin'yū kumiai) — financial institution
  • Russian: строи́тельное о́бщество (stroítelʹnoje óbščestvo) — financial institution
  • Russian: строи́тельная сберега́тельная ка́сса (stroítelʹnaja sberegátelʹnaja kássa) — financial institution
  • Spanish: sociedad de préstamo inmobiliario — financial institution