Etymologically
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syndrome

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 10:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈsɪndɹoʊm/, /-dɹəm/; /ˈsɪndɹəʊm/, /-dɹəm/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin syndromē, from Ancient Greek συνδρομή (sundromḗ, “concurrence of symptoms; concourse”),[2][3][4] from σύνδρομος (súndromos, “running together”), from σύν (sún, “with”) and the root of δρόμος (drómos, “a running, course”) (see dromedary).[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A set of symptoms occurring together: 1541, in Copland's translation of Galen.[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

A concurrence or concourse of things in general was a 17th-century sense, now obsolete.[6][5] The modern general sense, a characteristic pattern of beliefs or behaviour, as in the ___ syndrome, is first recorded in 1955, from psychology.[2][3][6]

Timeline

  • 1541 – a set of symptoms.[2][6]
  • 1646 – a concurrence (obsolete).[6]
  • 1955 – a pattern of behaviour.[2][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A group of symptoms that together indicate a particular disease or condition.
  2. A characteristic combination of opinions, emotions or behaviour.

Word family

  • syndromic

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press