A group can be defined as (link):
a number of persons or things ranged or considered together as being related in some way.
Now suppose one of those persons is a distinguished member – like a leader, or a shaman, or a coach. Is there an alternative to the word "group" which would emphasize this?
I'm looking for a word that emphasizes that some particular member is "special", but not that they are necessarily "better", nor that people are arranged in some sort of a hierarchy.
Best Answer
The catch is that almost every formal group of people has a "distinguished member". Any term implying a group of people with some structure will thus imply the existence of special roles within the group. So there hasn't been much need in English for such a specific word.
In line with that, the best I can suggest is the word "organization". (I considered "society", but the more general meanings of that word probably mean it's not as useful.) An organization implies that a group has some internal structure, and that structure in turn implies that some members will have special roles, without necessarily implying the existence of a hierarchy.
If this suggestion isn't useful, you should provide some context as to exactly why you need such a word.