synod
Pronunciation
- /ˈsɪn.əd/[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English synod, a respelling after Latin of sinoth,[2][3] inherited from Old English seonoþ, also sinoþ and synoþ,[4][5][2] which is borrowed from Late Latin synodus,[5][6][7][3] from Ancient Greek σύνοδος (súnodos, “assembly, meeting; conjunction of planets”),[5][2][3][8] formed from σύν (sún, “together”) and ὁδός (hodós, “way, journey”).[5][8][2] In the 16th century it was reinforced by French synode,[5][9] and the Latin word also gave Italian sinodo and Spanish sínodo.[5] Old Frisian and Old High German borrowed it too.[4] Klein notes that the same Greek word for way is the second element of anode and cathode.[8]
Earliest recorded meaning
A council of the Church: in Old English seonoþ was used mostly of the councils of the Christian Church, and also of other meetings.[4] Barnhart's first Middle English record is sinoth in the Peterborough Chronicle, before 1121, and the spelling synod is first found before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible;[3] the OED's first quotation is from Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon (before 1387).[5]
Semantic evolution
The Greek word meant any coming together, including the conjunction of planets,[2][3] and English used it for that astrological sense from 1646 to 1686.[5] From 1593 it was the name of a Presbyterian church court ranking above the presbytery.[5][2] Etymonline says that the Presbyterians used it until about 1920, when it was replaced by General Council;[2] Weekley quotes a 1920 report that the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of England had been renamed the General Assembly.[10] Since 1578 the word has also been used of any assembly or council,[5] as in Shakespeare's "The glorious gods sit in hourly synod" (Coriolanus), which Johnson quotes.[11]
Timeline
- Old English – seonoþ, a church council.[4]
- before 1121 – sinoth, in the Peterborough Chronicle.[3]
- before 1382 – the spelling synod.[3]
- before 1387 – an assembly of the clergy convened to decide church matters.[5]
- 1578 – any assembly or council.[5]
- 1593 – a Presbyterian court above the presbytery.[5][2]
- 1646 – a conjunction of planets (obsolete by 1686).[5]
Meanings
Noun
- An ecclesiastical council or assembly convened to discuss and decide church affairs.[12][13][5]
- A governing or advisory body of a church, such as a Presbyterian court ranking above the presbytery.[12][5]
- Any assembly or council.[12][5]
Word family
- synodal
- antisynod
- synodic
- holy synod
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins