Etymograph

English

syndicate

Syndicate comes from French syndicat ‘office of a syndic’, from Ancient Greek σῠ́νδῐκος ‘advocate, barrister, lawyer, pleader’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to point out, to show’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-‘to point out, to show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*díḱeh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*díkāreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐ́κηdĭ́kē‘custom, manner, fashion’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσῠ́νδῐκοςsŭ́ndĭkos‘advocate, barrister, lawyer, pleader’
  6. Late Latinmodernsyndicu
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentsyndic‘syndic, representative’
  8. French, derivedc. 1600–presentsyndicat‘office of a syndic’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1686syndicate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-‘to point out, to show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*díḱeh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*díkāreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐ́κηdĭ́kē‘custom, manner, fashion’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσῠ́νδῐκοςsŭ́ndĭkos‘advocate, barrister, lawyer, pleader’
  6. Late Latinmodernsyndicu
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentsyndic‘syndic, representative’
  8. French, derivedc. 1600–presentsyndicat‘office of a syndic’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1686syndicate

Earliest quotation: 1686, Gilbert Burnet, Some Letters Containing: “The ſoveraintie lies in the Council of 200, and…”

Equivalent to syndic + -ate

Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to point out’

…

Ancient Greek δῐ́κη ‘law, order’

Ancient Greek σῠ́νδῐκος ‘advocate, barrister, lawyer, pleader’

Late Latin syndicus

French syndic ‘delegated representative’

English syndic

The story

Anglicized from French syndicat (‘office of a syndic; board of syndics; trade union’) on the basis of -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, a group formed of people of this same office), equivalent to syndic (‘syndic; representative; (especially) chief magistrate of Geneva’) + -at (“-ate”, forms nouns denoting rank or office), from Medieval Latin *syndicātus, from syndicus (‘representative of a corporation or town; syndic’) (from Ancient Greek σύνδικος (súndikos, “advocate for a defendant”), from σύν (sún, “beside; with”) + δίκη (díkē, “judgment; justice”)) + -ātus (‘-ate’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ‘to point out, to show’

teach, index, toe, token, dictionary, predict, digit, paradigm, indicate, indication, addict, contradictory, contradiction, dictator, ditto, indicator, contradict, dictate, indicative, ditty, diction, predicate, dictum, tache, interdict, dict, indicia, 44 more

Another origin of syndicate

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deyḱ-‘to point out, to show’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*díḱeh₂reconstructed
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*díkāreconstructed
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδῐ́κηdĭ́kē‘custom, manner, fashion’
  5. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσῠ́νδῐκοςsŭ́ndĭkos‘advocate, barrister, lawyer, pleader’
  6. Late Latinmodernsyndicu
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentsyndic‘syndic, representative’
  8. French, derivedc. 1600–presentsyndicat‘syndicship’
  9. French, derivedc. 1600–presentsyndiquer‘to syndicate’
  10. Englishtodaysyndicate

Today it means

noun A group of individuals or companies formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest; a self-coordinating group.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- / syndicate

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