Synthesis

//ˈsɪnθəsɪs// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The formation of something complex or coherent by combining simpler things. countable, uncountable

    "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. 2
    reasoning from the general to the particular (or from cause to effect) wordnet
  3. 3
    Creation of a complex waveform by summation of simpler waveforms. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    the combination of ideas into a complex whole wordnet
  5. 5
    The reaction of elements or compounds to form more complex compounds. countable, uncountable
Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    the process of producing a chemical compound (usually by the union of simpler chemical compounds) wordnet
  2. 7
    A deduction from the general to the particular, by applying the rules of logic to a premise. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    The combination of thesis and antithesis. countable, uncountable
  4. 9
    In intelligence usage, the examining and combining of processed information with other information and intelligence for final interpretation. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    An apt arrangement of elements of a text, especially for euphony. countable, rhetoric, uncountable
  6. 11
    The uniting of ideas into a sentence. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    The reunion of parts that have been divided. countable, uncountable
  8. 13
    An Ancient Roman dining-garment. countable, uncountable

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

Synonyms

All synonyms
deductiona fortiori reasoninga posteriori reasoninga priori reasoningadditionaffiliation

Example

More examples

"His work is a synthesis of several ideas."

Etymology

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.

Related phrases

Arndt-Eistert synthesisAuwers synthesisFischer indole synthesisFriedländer synthesisGabriel synthesisPaal-Knorr synthesisWenker synthesisWöhler synthesisasymmetric synthesishigh-level synthesismedieval synthesismodern synthesis

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