σύνοδος

Forms

σῠ́νοδος (súnodos) f (genitive σῠνόδου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek σύν (sún, “with”) + ὁδός (hodós, “way”), literally “a coming together”.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Solon, in the 7th or 6th century BC, uses it in the plural for political clubs or factions.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek it is a meeting or assembly, especially one held for deliberation: Herodotus, Thucydides and the orators use it of councils, of the meetings of the Delian League, of national festivals and of clashes between two armies.^[3][4] It also named a society or guild, of worshippers, craftsmen or athletes, in inscriptions and papyri.^[3] Plato and Aristotle use it of things coming together, and Aristotle made it the term for the conjunction of the planets, a sense that Plutarch applies to the sun and the moon.^[3][4][2]

In the Church it became the word for a council of bishops, and Late Latin borrowed it as Latin synodus, whence English synod.^[3][5] The words Russian сино́д (sinód) and Welsh senedd also go back to it.^[1] Modern Greek σύνοδος (sýnodos) means a church council, a meeting of officials, and in astronomy a conjunction.^[6][2]

Timeline

• 7th–6th century BC – Solon uses it of political clubs.^[3][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it of assemblies, and Thucydides of the clash of armies.^[3][4]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the conjunction of planets.^[3][2]
• 2nd century BC – Inscriptions use it for guilds of artists and farmers.^[3]
• 6th century AD – The Code of Justinian uses it for church synods.^[3]
• Late 14th century – English adopts synod in its classical spelling, beside a late Old English form.^[5]
• Modern Greek – The learned σύνοδος (sýnodos) names a church council and an astronomical conjunction.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A meeting or assembly, especially for deliberation.^[3][4]
2. A private meeting or cabal; a political club.^[3][4]
3. A national gathering; a society for festivals or worship; a guild or club.^[3]
4. A hostile meeting of two armies, an encounter.^[3][4]
5. Sexual intercourse.^[3]
6. A coming together of things; a confluence; condensation or contraction.^[3][4]
7. (astronomy) A conjunction of heavenly bodies, especially of the sun and moon.^[3][4]
8. Receipt of revenue.^[4]
9. (Christian) A church council, a synod.^[3][6]

Related words

• ὁδός (hodós)
• Latin synodus
• English synod

Usage notes

A separate masculine σύνοδος means a fellow traveller, the same as συνοδοιπόρος (sunodoipóros); it is found in the Greek Anthology, Epictetus and Manetho.^[3][7] Ignatius uses it figuratively of Christians travelling the same road.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ 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