synthesis

From Latin synthesis, from Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (súnthesis, “a putting together; composition”), from συντίθημι (suntíthēmi, “put together, combine”), from συν- (sun-, “together”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “set, place”). Doublet of sandhi.

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪnθəsɪs/

  • Audio (Berkshire, Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio (Southeast US, US):

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• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈsənθəsəs/
• Hyphenation: syn‧the‧sis

synthesis (countable and uncountable, plural syntheses)

1. The formation of something complex or coherent by combining simpler things.
   • 1990 December 16, Phil Harper, “Affirmed”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 22, page 9:

     In its synthesis of different art forms and various techniques, Tongues Untied actually represented a departure for Riggs, whose previous work […] had been in a relatively traditional documentary format.

2. (signal processing) Creation of a complex waveform by summation of simpler waveforms.
3. (chemistry) The reaction of elements or compounds to form more complex compounds.
4. (logic) A deduction from the general to the particular, by applying the rules of logic to a premise.
5. (philosophy) The combination of thesis and antithesis.
6. (military) In intelligence usage, the examining and combining of processed information with other information and intelligence for final interpretation.
7. (rhetoric) An apt arrangement of elements of a text, especially for euphony.
8. (grammar) The uniting of ideas into a sentence.
9. (medicine) The reunion of parts that have been divided.
10. An Ancient Roman dining-garment.
    • 1918, American Philological Association, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, page 132:

      The Saturnalia was apparently the only occasion, however, when the synthesis could be worn in public with decorum.

• analysis

• synthesize
• synthetic

• “synthesis”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “synthesis”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

From Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (súnthesis, “a putting together; composition”), from συντίθημι (suntíthēmi, “put together, combine”), from σύν (sún, “together”) + τίθημι (títhēmi, “set, place”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsyn.tʰɛ.sɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsin.te.s̬is]

synthesis f (genitive synthesis or syntheseōs or synthesios); third declension

1. A collection or reunion of many objects of analogous nature.
2. mixture, compound (medicine)
3. suit (of clothes), costume
4. a kind of loose garment, worn at table
5. dinner service

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, i-stem).

¹Found sometimes in Medieval and New Latin.

• “synthesis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “synthesis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “synthesis”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “synthesis”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

• sunthesis

Borrowed from English synthesis, from Latin synthesis, from Ancient Greek σύνθεσις (súnthesis, “a putting together; composition”).

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈsɨ̞nθɛsɪs/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪnθɛsɪs/

Being a word borrowed from English derived from Greek, the y in synthesis is pronounced /ɨ̞, ɪ/ rather than expected /ə/. To preserve consistency between pronunciation and spelling, some prefer to spell this word sunthesis. Nevertheless, synthesis is the more common spelling of the two. See pyramid/puramid, symbol/sumbol, system/sustem for similar examples.

synthesis m (plural synthesisau, not mutable)

1. synthesis

• syntheseiddio (“synthesise”)
• synthetig (“synthetic”)

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “synthesis”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies