synaptic

Etymology

It is formed from English synapsis + -ic,^[2][3][4] and the Shorter Oxford takes the anatomical sense from synapse.^[4] Its form follows Ancient Greek συναπτικός (sunaptikós, “connective, copulative”),^[5][2][4] and Merriam-Webster compares English pairs such as prolepsis and proleptic.^[3][6] The base noun, used in biology from 1895, is from Ancient Greek σύναψις (súnapsis, “connection, junction”), from σύν (sún) and ἅψις (hápsis, “joining”), from ἅπτω (háptō, “to fasten, join”).^[5][2] Etymonline relates it to συνάπτω (sunáptō, “to clasp, join together”),^[2] and the American Heritage Dictionary derives the adjective from a Greek participle meaning “joined together”, from the same verb.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to synapsis: 1895, in a paper by J. E. S. Moore in the Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science.^[5][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense belongs to cell biology: Moore's synapsis was the pairing of chromatin elements in cell division, now the pairing of chromosomes in meiosis.^[5][2][4] From 1897 synapse and synapsis were also used for the junction between two nerve cells,^[2][5] and the adjective took on that sense in the early 20th century.^[4] It is now chiefly the anatomical adjective.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1895 – relating to synapsis in cell division.^[5][4]
• early 20th century – relating to a synapse between nerve cells.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or passed across a synapse between nerve cells: synaptic transmission.^[7][3][8][4]
2. Of or relating to synapsis, the pairing of chromosomes in meiosis.^[7][4][3]

Word family

• synaptically
• presynaptic
• postsynaptic
• polysynaptic
• monosynaptic
• synaptic cleft
• synaptic gap

Related words

• synapse
• synapsis
• apse

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins