Syndic

//ˈsɪndɪk// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A government official having different duties depending on the country; also, a magistrate, especially one of the Chief Magistrates of Geneva, Switzerland.

    "The Bailiffes and Syndicks of Merindoll appeare the ſecond time."

  2. 2
    one appointed to represent a city or university or corporation in business transactions wordnet
  3. 3
    An agent of a corporation, or of any body of people engaged in a business enterprise; specifically, in the University of Cambridge, a member of the senate appointed to carry out specific duties. British

    "In France, syndics are appointed by the creditors of a bankrupt to manage the property."

  4. 4
    A layperson who is given official responsibility for the finances, care, and civil administration of the nonreligious details of a convent or religious community.

    "The larger powers with which the syndic was invested by Martin IV and by his successors, Martin V ("Constitutiones Martinianae") in Wadding, "Annales", X, 301) and Paul IV ("Ex Clementi", 1 July, 1555), gave rise to the appellation syndicus Martinianus in contradistinction to syndicus communis."

Example

More examples

"The Bailiffes and Syndicks of Merindoll appeare the ſecond time."

Etymology

Borrowed from French syndic (“delegated representative; a chief magistrate of Geneva; a censor; critic (obsolete)”), from Late Latin syndicus (“representative of a corporation or town, syndic”), from Ancient Greek σύνδικος (súndikos, “advocate of a defendant”), from σῠν- (sŭn-, prefix meaning ‘together, with’) + δῐ́κη (dĭ́kē, “law, order; right; judgment; justice; lawsuit; trial”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to point out”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.