Jamiyat

Jamiyat is a term used in several Central and South Asian languages to denote “society,” “community,” or “association.” It functions as a common noun and, in some contexts, as part of the official name of organizations.

The word derives from the Arabic root jama’ meaning “to gather” and has been adapted in Persian, Uzbek, Tajik, and related languages as an abstract noun meaning a gathering, association, or society. In Tajik Cyrillic and Latin Uzbek, it is written and pronounced as jamiyat.

In Tajik and Uzbek, jamiyat is widely used in both formal and everyday language to refer to society at large or to a specific organization, such as a cultural society, a professional association, or a civil-society body. It also appears in official discourse to describe social institutions, community life, and public affairs.

As a component of organization names, jamiyat can appear in the titles of groups that aim to represent a community or sector, similar to how “society” or “association” is used in English. The capitalization Jamiyat is usually reserved for the official name of a group, rather than a common noun.

Related cognates include jama’at, jamiat, and cəmiyyət, which share the same root and meaning. These forms appear across Persianate and Turkic-influenced languages and reflect the historical diffusion of concepts of gathering and community.