σύνθεσις

Forms

σῠ́νθεσῐς (súnthesis) f (genitive σῠνθέσεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is an action noun formed from Ancient Greek συντίθημι (suntíthēmi, “to put together”) + -σις (-sis), as θέσις (thésis) is formed from τίθημι (títhēmi, “to put, place”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first records are in the 5th century BC: Pindar uses it of an agreement, and Aeschylus' Prometheus speaks of having invented γραμμάτων τε συνθέσεις, “combinations of letters”, that is, writing.^[3][4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

In Plato and Aristotle it is a putting together, combination or composition of any kind: of stones in a building, of harmonies, of parts into a whole.^[4][6] It soon became a term of many sciences.^[4] In grammar and rhetoric it was the arrangement of letters into syllables and words and of words into sentences, and the composition of a speech or of verse.^[4][6][2] Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote a treatise on the arrangement of words.^[4][6][2] In logic it was the joining of noun and verb in a statement, in mathematics synthesis (as opposed to analysis), a transformation of a ratio and addition, in physics the composition of substances, and in medicine the compounding of drugs and perfumes.^[4]

It was also a social or political combination, a military formation, and an agreement or treaty.^[4][6] In the papyri it is the making up of accounts, and a set of things: a wardrobe or suit of clothes, or a service of plates; in these senses it passed into Latin as synthesis.^[4][7][8] The Septuagint uses it of the compounding of spices and incense.^[9]

Modern Greek σύνθεση (sýnthesi) is a learned revival; some of its meanings are modelled on French synthèse and composition and on German Synthese.^[10] Through Latin it gave English synthesis, first recorded in the 1610s.^[11]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of an agreement, and Aeschylus of combinations of letters.^[3][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of composition and of the arrangement of words into sentences.^[4][6]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it in logic, physics and politics.^[4]
• 3rd century BC – Archimedes uses it of the synthesis of a mathematical problem, and Euclid of a transformation of ratios.^[4]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus writes his treatise on the arrangement of words.^[4]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Papyri use it of a suit of clothes and a service of plates.^[4]
• 1610s – English borrows it as synthesis, through Latin.^[11]
• Modern Greek – The learned σύνθεση (sýnthesi) means composition and synthesis.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A putting together, composition, combination.^[4][6]
2. A junction, as of bones.^[4]
3. (grammar, rhetoric) The combination of letters into syllables and words, of words into sentences; the composition of a speech or of verse.^[4][6]
4. (mathematics) Synthesis of a problem, as opposed to analysis; addition.^[4]
5. (logic) The union of noun and verb, or of two notions, in a statement.^[4]
6. (medicine) The compounding of drugs or perfumes.^[4][9]
7. A social or political combination; a military formation.^[4][6]
8. An agreement, a treaty.^[4][3]
9. The making up of accounts.^[4]
10. A set: a wardrobe, a suit of clothes; a service of plates.^[4][8]

Word family

• συνθετικός (sunthetikós)

Related words

• συντίθημι (suntíthēmi)
• θέσις (thésis)
• ὑπόθεσις (hupóthesis)
• Latin synthesis
• English synthesis

Usage notes

Ammonius distinguishes it from σύνταξις (súntaxis): σύνθεσις is speech in verse, σύνταξις speech in prose.^[12] Hesychius glosses it as ἁρμονία (harmonía), “fitting together”.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: De Gruyter
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
8. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)
13. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)