Word.ws English Dictionary

syndic

Syllables: syn·dic/ˈsɪndɪk/

syndic noun: a government official having different duties depending on the country; also, a magistrate, especially one of the Chief Magistrates of Geneva, Switzerland.

syndic: a government official having different duties depending on the country; also, a magistrate,...
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Noun

syndic (plural syndics)

  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.1610 October, John Foxe, “A Notable History of the Persecution and Destruction of the People of Merindol and Cabriers in the Country of Prouince: […]”, in The Second Volume of the Ecclesiasticall...
    • [T]he two Syndicks and the reſt of the Magiſtrates of that City began to pry more narrowly into their ſtay, and more neerely into their actions; […]1640, John Reynolds, “History XVII”, in The Triumphs of Gods Revenge against the Crying and Execrable Sinne of (Wilfull and Premeditated) Murther. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Edward Griffin for...
  2. (UK) 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.
    • In France, syndics are appointed by the creditors of a bankrupt to manage the property.
    • The University of Cambridge has syndics who are chosen from the senate to transact special business, such as the regulation of fees and the framing of laws.
  3. 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.1912, Catholic Encyclopedia - Volume 14, page 385

Examples of syndic in a sentence

  • This City is govern'd by a Syndick and Twenty Five Senators, who meet every Day to conſult about the Affairs of the Commonwealth, and to decide all Cauſes, whether Criminal or Civil.1694, [Giovanni Paolo Marana], “Letter I. To Hamet, Reis Effendi, Principal Secretary of the Ottoman Empire.”, in [Daniel Saltmarsh]...
  • A syndic shall be appointed for every canal not being administered by a corporation or other public body on behalf of any part of the community.1905, Mauritius, Sir Francis Taylor Piggott, Louis Arthur Thibaud ·, Ordinances, page 819:
  • To-morrow, after the midday prayer, mount an ass and make for the Habbānīyah quarter and there inquire for the house of the syndic Barakah, known as Abū Shāmah.1923, J[oseph] C[harles] Mardrus, “The Tale of the Christian Broker”, in [Edward] Powys Mathers, transl., The Book of the Thousand Nights...
  • In 1760 one Intendant went so far as to dissolve the militia altogether and appointed syndics to carry on the local government.1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, Vintage Books, published 2023, →ISBN, page 35:

Forms of syndic

pluralsyndics
alternative formsyndick

Origin of syndic

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

Words formed from syndic

Questions about syndic

What does syndic mean?
Syndic means a government official having different duties depending on the country; also, a magistrate, especially one of the Chief Magistrates of Geneva, Switzerland.
How do you use syndic in a sentence?
This City is govern'd by a Syndick and Twenty Five Senators, who meet every Day to conſult about the Affairs of the Commonwealth, and to decide all Cauſes, whether Criminal or Civil.
What part of speech is syndic?
Syndic is a noun.
How do you pronounce syndic?
Syndic is pronounced /ˈsɪndɪk/ (UK).
What is the plural of syndic?
The plural of syndic is syndics.

Words near syndic in the dictionary

  1. syndetomes
  2. syndeton
  3. syndetons
  4. syndets
  5. syndiagenetic
  6. syndic
  7. syndical
  8. syndicalism
  9. syndicalisms
  10. syndicalist
  11. syndicalists

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: syndic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-syndic.wav.

Cite this entry: “syndic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/syndic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.