<B>syntactic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with syntax; in accordance with the rules of syntax. <BR> <I>Ex. The parts of speech, for example, in any new language under examination, should be determined either by their inflexions or, if completely uninflected, by their syntactic function (Simeon Potter).</I> adv. <B>syntactically.</B> </DL>
<B>syntactics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the formal syntactic system or structure of a language without reference to meaning. <DD><B> 2. </B>the study of such a system or structure. </DL>
<A NAME="syntagma">
<B>syntagma, </B>noun, pl. <B>-mata,</B> <B>-mas.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Linguistics.) a syntactic unit or construction; group of words forming a sentence, clause, or phrase. <DD><B> 2. </B>a systematically arranged treatise. </DL>
<A NAME="syntagmatic">
<B>syntagmatic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Linguistics.) of or having to do with a syntagma or syntagmata. </DL>
<A NAME="syntax">
<B>syntax, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>the way in which the words and phrases of a sentence are arranged to show how they relate to each other; sentence structure. <BR> <I>Ex. In syntax and vocabulary the message of the written record is unmistakable, and it exerts a tremendous effect upon the standard language (Leonard Bloomfield).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the patterns of such arrangement in a given language. <BR> <I>Ex. The team wants to analyze the syntax of one pair of languages (German and English) in terms of mathematical symbolism (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>the use or function of a word, phrase, or clause in a sentence. <DD><B> d. </B>the part of grammar dealing with the construction and function of phrases, clauses, and sentences. <BR> <I>Ex. The object in syntax is still to discover the relations between the parts of the expression (Joshua Whatmough).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) an orderly or systematic arrangement of parts or elements; connected order or system of things. <BR> <I>Ex. Concerning the syntax and disposition of studies, that men may know in what order ... to read (Francis Bacon).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="syntechnic">
<B>syntechnic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with unrelated animals that resemble each other due to the influence of a similar environment. </DL>
<A NAME="syntexis">
<B>syntexis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Geology.) the process by which magma is formed by the melting of different types of rocks. </DL>
<A NAME="synthesis">
<B>synthesis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ses.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>the combination of parts or elements into a whole. <BR> <I>Ex. in the opinion of several competent critics the best synthesis of Baudelaire that had appeared in English (London Times). I cannot believe that we can achieve a synthesis between Thomas Aquinas and Marx (Gyorgy Lukas).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a body of things put together thus. An idea or concept may be a synthesis of several other ideas. <BR> <I>Ex. The happiest synthesis of the divine, the scholar and the gentleman (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the formation of a compound or a complex substance by the chemical union of various elements or by the combination of simpler compounds. Alcohol, ammonia, and rubber can be artificially produced by synthesis. <BR> <I>Ex. A total synthesis implies that in theory a substance has been elaborated from its elements, in this case carbon, hydrogen and oxygen (A. J. Birch).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Philosophy, Logic.) <DD><B> a. </B>the combination or unification of particular phenomena, observed or hypothesized, into a general body or abstract whole. <DD><B> b. </B>according to Immanuel Kant, the action of the understanding in combining and unifying the isolated data of sensation into a cognizable whole. <DD><B> c. </B>according to Thomas Hobbes, Isaac Newton, and others, deductive reasoning. </DL>
<B>synthesist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who uses synthesis or a synthetic method. </DL>
<A NAME="synthesization">
<B>synthesization, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or process of synthesizing. <BR> <I>Ex. The ... basic ingredients are human beings, which no doubt will always defy synthesization (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="synthesize">
<B>synthesize, </B>verb, <B>-sized,</B> <B>-sizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to put together or combine into a complex whole. <DD><B> 2. </B>to make by combining parts or elements. <BR> <I>Ex. Gottlieb's ... effort to synthesize antitoxin (Sinclair Lewis).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to produce or manufacture by chemical synthesis; treat or form synthetically. <BR> <I>Ex. to synthesize rubber. Every natural drug from quinine to penicillin has been synthesized (Philip Wylie).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to come together or combine into a complex whole. <BR> <I>Ex. The other chain took eight days to synthesize and showed a final yield of 37 percent (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="synthesizer">
<B>synthesizer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that synthesizes. <BR> <I>Ex. Sir Winston Churchill [was] the great synthesizer of foreign affairs, a man of global vision and striking phrase (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an electronic device that simulates and blends conventional and ultrasonic sounds. <BR> <I>Ex. The synthesizer ... generates its own sound electronically and, at least in theory, can synthesize from five basic sound-elements any musical effect ever conceived, or imaginable in the future (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="synthetase">
<B>synthetase, </B>noun. <B>=ligase.</B></DL>
<A NAME="synthetic">
<B>synthetic, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of, having to do with, or involving synthesis. <BR> <I>Ex. synthetic chemistry.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>made artificially by chemical synthesis. Many kinds of fabrics, furs, dyes, resins, and drugs are synthetic products. <BR> <I>Ex. Synthetic vanillin is chemically indistinguishable from vanillin obtained from the bean (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) not real or genuine; artificial. <BR> <I>Ex. synthetic laughter.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Linguistics.) characterized by the use of affixes and inflectional endings rather than by the use of separate words, such as auxiliary verbs and prepositions, to express the same idea. Latin is a synthetic language, while English is analytic. For example, the Latin <I>amabitur</I> expresses in one word the English <I>he will be loved.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a product made by chemical synthesis. <BR> <I>Ex. Goodyear used a synthetic called "Natsyn," the molecular duplicate of tree-grown latex (Charles C. Cain).</I> adv. <B>synthetically.</B> </DL>
<B>synthetic cubism,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a form of cubism in which different views of an object are shown in the same picture, often superimposed on each other; simultaneism. </DL>
<A NAME="syntheticfiber">
<B>synthetic fiber,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any fiber developed by chemical processes from natural substances such as cellulose, petroleum, and coal. <BR> <I>Ex. Rayon, fiberglass, and nylon are well-known synthetic fibers. Some imaginative chemists began to experiment with synthetic fibers, and the non-wovens started to take on a new character (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="syntheticgeometry">
<B>synthetic geometry,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> geometry treated without algebra or coordinates, as distinguished from analytic geometry; ordinary Euclidean geometry. </DL>
<A NAME="syntheticism">
<B>syntheticism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> synthetic methods or procedure. </DL>
<A NAME="syntheticphilosophy">
<B>synthetic philosophy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, so called by himself as bringing the various sciences into a systematic whole. </DL>
<A NAME="syntheticrubber">
<B>synthetic rubber,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any rubberlike substance or elastomer developed by chemical processes chiefly from butadiene as a substitute for natural rubber, usually having special properties, such as resistance to heat, cold, age, and harmful chemicals. <BR> <I>Ex. ... On the basis of usefulness, synthetic rubber is nearing the limits where it can seize a big new piece of the market (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="synthetics">
<B>synthetics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>man-made substances formed by chemical synthesis. Plastics are synthetics. <BR> <I>Ex. Today's synthetics are by and large either better than their natural counterparts or have no counterparts at all (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the field of science or industry dealing with the making of synthetic products. <BR> <I>Ex. Only recently did it [a firm] make a halfhearted attempt to get into synthetics (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="synthetism">
<B>synthetism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a synthetic system or doctrine. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Medicine.) the complete treatment of a fracture from its reduction to the removal of the splints and restoration of the function of the limb. <DD><B> 3. </B>(in art) symbolism. </DL>
<B>synthetograph, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a composite drawing, as from two or more specimens of a new species. </DL>
<A NAME="syntonic">
<B>syntonic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with the tuning of a transmitter and receiver, so that the receiver responds only to the vibrations of the transmitter. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with resonance, especially of radio frequency. <DD><B> 3. </B>of or having to do with a personality responding emotionally to the environment readily and appropriately. adv. <B>syntonically.</B> </DL>
