σύνδικος

Forms

σῠ́νδῐκος (súndikos) m (genitive σῠνδῐ́κου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of σύν (sún) “with” and δίκη (díkē) “justice, lawsuit”, with the adjectival ending -ος (-os): literally “one who is in the lawsuit with someone”.^[1][2][3] Old Attic writes it ξύνδικος (xúndikos), with the older form of the prefix.^[4][5] It belongs to a group of compounds in -δικος (-dikos) such as ἀντίδικος (antídikos) “opponent at law” and ὑπόδικος (hupódikos) “liable to trial”.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first records are in Pindar's odes (6th–5th century BC). In the Olympian Odes a tomb is a “witness” to an athlete's victories, and in the Pythian Odes the lyre is the joint possession of Apollo and the Muses.^[5][4][8]

Semantic evolution

In Aeschylus and the Attic orators the word means an advocate, someone who supports another in court.^[5][4] At Athens it was often used interchangeably with συνήγορος (sunḗgoros), but it also became a title: after the Thirty Tyrants, sýndikoi judged disputes about confiscated property (Lysias, Harpocration), and the assembly elected five of them to defend a law under challenge (Demosthenes).^[5][3][9] Groups such as the tribes chose advocates of their own, and Plato pairs the word with “witnesses”.^[5][3]

In Hellenistic and Roman times the sýndikos was the advocate who represented a city or a sanctuary, at Sparta, at Delphi and as far as Palmyra, and in late antiquity an official of the provinces of Egypt and of the empire.^[5][10] Latin took it over as Latin syndicus “representative of a town or group”, and through French syndic it reached English syndic around 1600.^[11] Modern Greek σύνδικος (sýndikos), a learned word, is a company's or association's legal representative, a sense taken from French syndic.^[12][13]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of a witness and of a joint possession.^[5][4][14]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for helpers in court.^[5][14]
• 5th–4th century BC – Lysias uses it for the commissioners for confiscated property.^[5][14]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it for the advocates elected to defend a law.^[5][4][14]
• 2nd century AD – Inscriptions use it for the public advocates of Athens, Delphi and Palmyra.^[5]
• 4th century AD – Libanius uses it for the public advocates of the late empire.^[5][14]
• About 1600 – English borrows syndic through French.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who helps another in court; an advocate or supporter.^[5][4]
2. (figurative) A witness that bears out someone's claims.^[4][8]
3. (Athens) An official commissioner: one of the judges of disputes over confiscated property, or one of the advocates elected to defend a law.^[5][4][3]
4. A public advocate who represents a state, city or sanctuary.^[5][10]
5. An accomplice.^[5]

Adjective

1. Belonging jointly; shared by right.^[5][4]

Related words

• δίκη (díkē)
• συνήγορος (sunḗgoros)
• ἀντίδικος (antídikos)
• Latin syndicus
• English syndic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c d Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: De Gruyter
9. ^ Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
10. ^ a b Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
14. ^ a b c d e Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge