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synodus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word synodus

synodus1 sea bream

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
43 BC–18 AD Ovid, Halieutica
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek συνόδους
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek συνόδους

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsy.nɔ.duːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsiː.no.dus][1]

Forms

synodūs m (genitive synodontis); third declension[1][2]

Etymology

The word for the fish is borrowed from Ancient Greek συνόδους (sunódous),[3][2][4] formed from συν- (sun-, “together”) and ὀδούς (odoús, “tooth”), literally “with teeth meeting one another”.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ovid's Halieutica names fulvi synodontes, “tawny synodontes”, among the fishes.[3]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Elder mentions it as well (37.182).[3][2] It is a sea fish of the bream family, perhaps the dentex.[3][2][1]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid's Halieutica lists it among sea fishes.[3][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder mentions it.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sea fish of the bream family, perhaps the dentex.[3][2][1]

synodus2 assembly, synod

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
151–300 inscriptions
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek σύνοδος
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek σύνοδος
Etymology tree of synodus2
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek σύν (sún)
Ancient Greek σύνοδος (súnodos)
Latin synodus
From the same root · synodus2
Ancient Greek συλλαμβάνω (sullambánō) ← σύν
Ancient Greek συμμετρία (summetría) ← σύν
Ancient Greek συμπαθής (sumpathḗs) ← σύν
Ancient Greek συμπίπτω (sumpíptō) ← σύν
Ancient Greek σύνδικος (súndikos) ← σύν
Ancient Greek συνεργός (sunergós) ← σύν
Ancient Greek συνίστημι (sunístēmi) ← σύν
English symmetry ← σύν
English synagogue ← σύν
English synergy ← σύν
English synonym ← σύν

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsy.nɔ.dʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsiː.no.dus][1]

Forms

synodus f (genitive synodī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The word for the assembly is borrowed from Ancient Greek σύνοδος (súnodos, “assembly, meeting”),[3][6][7] formed from σύν (sún, “together”) and ὁδός (hodós, “way, journey”).[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In inscriptions, where it is also spelt synhodus, it names a body of people meeting for religious purposes, members of a collegium; one inscription names an archiereus synodi, the high priest of such a body.[3][6][2] Datable inscriptions with the form synodus range from 151 to 300 AD.[9]

Semantic evolution

Ammianus Marcellinus and the Code of Justinian use it for an ecclesiastical assembly or council, a synod.[6][2] The Ecclesiastical Latin of the Church kept this as the main sense.[10]

In medieval Latin it could mean an assembly of the magnates of a realm, a due levied on the occasion of the bishop's synod, and the decrees of a synod.[11] British sources also use it of local gatherings of clergy, visitations and church courts.[7] Late Latin synodus is the source of the English word (late 14th century, a classical respelling of the older Old English form).[8]

Timeline

  • 151–300 AD – Inscriptions use it of religious associations.[3][9]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it for a church council.[6][2][5]
  • late 14th century – English respells its older borrowing as synod after the Late Latin word.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A body of people meeting for religious purposes; a college of priests.[3][6][2]
  2. (Late Latin, Ecclesiastical Latin) A church council, a synod.[6][2][10]
  3. (Medieval Latin) An assembly of the magnates of a realm, a diet.[11]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A due paid on the occasion of the bishop's synod.[11]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The decrees of a synod.[11]

Usage notes

The OLD files the assembly under the spelling synhodus and gives its genitive as -ī, with a Greek nominative -os.[3] The fish has the Greek genitive synodontos beside synodontis.[3][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Kaše, Vojtěch; Heřmánková, Petra; Sobotková, Adéla et al. (2024), LIST: Latin Inscriptions in Space and Time, v1.2 (EDCS + EDH), Aarhus: SDAM, doi:10.5281/zenodo.10473706
  10. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  11. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  12. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Synodus.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/synodus. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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