synod

English

WOTD – 25 December 2011

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σύνοδος (súnodos, “assembly, meeting”) – from σύν (sún, “with”) (English syn-) + ὁδός (hodós, “way, path”).

Compare also with the term סַנְהֶדְרִין (“sanhedrin”) common throughout Hebrew Talmudic literature.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĭn'əd, IPA^(key): /ˈsɪn.əd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

synod (plural synods)

1. (Christianity) An ecclesiastic council or meeting to consult on church matters.
   • 2023 October 2, Jason Horowitz, Elisabetta Povoledo, “What Is a Synod in the Catholic Church? And Why Does This One Matter?”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Addressing a number of previously taboo topics, this synod could result in several liberalizing reforms, though there is no guarantee that it will produce anything at all.

2. (Christianity) An administrative division of churches, either the entire denomination, as in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, or a mid-level division (middle judicatory, district) as in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
3. An assembly or council having civil authority (formal); a legislative body.
   • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     It hath in solemn synods been decreed.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     A third part of the Gods, in synod met / Their deities to assert; who, while they feel / Vigour divine within them, can allow / Omnipotence to none.

   • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Last Parting of Hector and Andromache. From the Sixth Book of the Iliad.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 455:

     Parent of Gods and Men, propitious Jove! / And you bright ſynod of the Pow'rs above; / On this my ſon your gracious gifts beſtow; / Grant him to live, and great in arms to grow, [...]

4. (astronomy) A conjunction of two or more of the heavenly bodies.

Usage notes

Usage differs between different churches – see uses in different Communions.

Hypernyms

• council

Derived terms

• antisynod
• countersynod
• general synod
• holy synod
• synodal
• synodality
• synodic
• synodist

Translations

ecclesiastic council or meeting

• Afrikaans: sinode (af)
• Arabic: سِيَنُودُوس m (siyanūdūs)
• Armenian: սինոդ (hy) (sinod)
• Belarusian: сіно́д m (sinód)
• Bulgarian: синод (bg) m (sinod)
• Catalan: sínode (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 教会会议 (jiàohuì huìyì)

• Czech: synod m, synoda (cs) f
• Danish: synode c
• Dutch: synode (nl) f
• Esperanto: sinodo
• Estonian: sinod
• Farefare: sinodo
• Finnish: kirkolliskokous (fi), synodi (fi)
• French: synode (fr) m
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: synoade

• Galician: sínodo m
• Georgian: სინოდი (sinodi)
• German: Synode (de) f
• Greek: σύνοδος (el) f (sýnodos)

  Ancient Greek: σύνοδος f (súnodos)

• Hebrew: סִינוֹד m (sinód)
• Hindi: धर्मसभा (hi) f (dharmsabhā)
• Hungarian: zsinat (hu), szinódus (hu)
• Icelandic: prestastefna f
• Ido: sinodo (io)
• Indonesian: sinode (id)
• Italian: sinodo (it) m
• Japanese: 教会会議 (きょうかいかいぎ, kyōkaikaigi)
• Kazakh: синод (sinod)
• Korean: 교회회의 (gyohoehoe'ui), 시노드 (sinodeu)
• Latin: synodus m
• Lithuanian: sinodas m
• Low German:

  German Low German: Synood

• Macedonian: синод m (sinod)
• Malayalam: സൂനഹദോസുകൾ (sūnahadōsukaḷ)
• Māori: hīnota
• Norman: synnode m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: synode m

  Nynorsk: synode m

• Polish: synod (pl) m
• Portuguese: sínodo (pt) m
• Romanian: sinod (ro) n
• Russian: сино́д (ru) m (sinód), синкли́т (ru) m (sinklít)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сѝно̄д m

  Latin: sìnōd (sh) m

• Slovak: synoda f
• Spanish: sínodo (es) m
• Swahili: sinodi (sw)
• Swedish: synod (sv) c
• Tagalog: sinodo
• Ukrainian: сино́д m (synód)
• Uzbek:

  Cyrillic: синод (uz) (sinod)

  Latin: sinod (uz)

• Vietnamese: công nghị

administrative division of church

• Bulgarian: синод (bg) m (sinod)
• Catalan: sínode (ca) m
• Finnish: synodi (fi)
• Portuguese: sínodo (pt) m

Anagrams

• Dyson, dynos, dyons

Czech

Noun

synod m inan

1. synod (an ecclesiastic council or meeting to consult on church matters)

   Synonym: synoda

Declension

Declension of synod (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	synod	synody
genitive	synodu	synodů
dative	synodu	synodům
accusative	synod	synody
vocative	synode	synody
locative	synodu	synodech
instrumental	synodem	synody

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from French synode, from Ecclesiastical Latin synodus, from Ancient Greek σύνοδος (súnodos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɘ.nɔt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɘnɔt
• Syllabification: sy‧nod

Noun

synod m inan (related adjective synodalny or synodowy)

1. (Christianity) synod (ecclesiastic council or meeting to consult on church matters)
2. (Christianity) synod (administrative division of churches, either the entire denomination)

Declension

Declension of synod

	singular	plural
nominative	synod	synody
genitive	synodu	synodów
dative	synodowi	synodom
accusative	synod	synody
instrumental	synodem	synodami
locative	synodzie	synodach
vocative	synodzie	synody

Related terms

noun

• synodalność

Further reading

• “synod”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “synod”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin synodus, from Ancient Greek σύνοδος (súnodos, “meeting, astronomical conjunction”), from συν- (sun-) +‎ ὁδός (hodós).

Noun

synod c

1. a synod; a (local) church council

   Hypernym: kyrkomöte

2. a synod (administrative division of church)

   biskopssynoden

   the Synod of Bishops

Declension

Declension of synod

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	synod	synods
	definite	synoden	synodens
plural	indefinite	synoder	synoders
	definite	synoderna	synodernas

Related terms

• synodal
• synodisk

See also

• koncilium

References

• “synod”, in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker [Dictionaries of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)