σύνοψις

Forms

σῠ́νοψῐς (súnopsis) f (genitive σῠνόψῐος or σῠνόψεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek συν- (sun-, “together”) + ὄψις (ópsis, “sight, appearance”), “a seeing all together”.^[1][2][3] Bailly and the DGP relate it to the future συνόψομαι (sunópsomai) of the verb meaning “to see together”.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in Plato: in the Republic the studies are to be brought together into a single view of their kinship, and in the Laws the word means a survey of the laws.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Polybius uses it for bringing events under one view in his history and for a place with a good view; he also has the phrase “in sight of one another”.^[6][4] Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Galen use it of a mental survey.^[6] From a general view the word came to mean a written summary: one of Plutarch's essays is titled a σύνοψις, an epitome.^[6][4][3]

Papyri of Roman Egypt use it for an estimate of costs or taxes and for the tender an official accepted, and a papyrus of the 6th or 7th century for expense.^[6][9]

It passed into Late Latin as synopsis, the source of English synopsis in the 1610s.^[1][2] Modern Greek σύνοψη (sýnopsi) is a learned word for a summary or abridgment, and also names the parallel arrangement of the first three Gospels, a medieval sense.^[10][3]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of a single view of related studies and of a survey of the laws.^[6][7]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for bringing his history under one view.^[6][7]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses it of a mental review.^[6][7]
• 1st–2nd century AD – An essay of Plutarch bears the title σύνοψις, an epitome.^[6][3]
• 1st century AD – Papyri and inscriptions of Egypt use it for an estimate of taxes.^[6][9]
• 6th–7th century AD – A papyrus uses it for public expense.^[6][9]
• 1610s – English borrows synopsis from Late Latin.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The learned σύνοψη (sýnopsi) means a summary.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A seeing all together, a general view or survey, with the eyes or the mind.^[6][4]
2. An epitome, a synopsis; a recapitulation.^[6][4]
3. (papyri) An estimate of taxes or costs; a tender.^[6][9]
4. (Byzantine papyri) Expense.^[6][9]

Word family

• συνοπτικός (sunoptikós)
• συνοψίζω (sunopsízō)

Related words

• ὄψις (ópsis)
• Latin synopsis
• English synopsis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
5. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
9. ^ a b c d e Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki