Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “synthetic” come from?

Synthetic derives from French synthétique, from Ancient Greek συνθετικός, from συνθεσις meaning "a putting together," from συντίθημι "to put together," from τίθημι "to place," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sem- meaning "to put" or "to set."

synthetic (English): Of, or relating to synthesis; Produced by...

Definitions

  1. Of, or relating to synthesis; Produced by...

Ancestry of “synthetic”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchsynthétiquesynthetic
2Ancient Greekσυνθετικόςskilled in putting together, constructive;...
3Ancient Greekσύνθεσιςa putting together, composition, combination,...
4Ancient Greekσυντίθημιto assemble, put together
5Ancient Greekσῠν-together; with, together
6Ancient Greekσύνbeside, with
7Proto-Hellenic*ksún—

Words derived from “synthetic”

  • photosynthetic
  • statin
  • biosynthetic
  • somatostatin
  • synthetically
  • simvastatin
  • semisynthetic
  • photosynthetically
  • geosynthetic
  • polysynthetic
  • chemosynthetic
  • nonphotosynthetic
  • synfuel
  • retrosynthetic
  • biosynthetically
  • nonsynthetic
  • somatostatinoma
  • syntheticity
  • nucleosynthetic
  • syncrude
  • postsynthetic
  • osteosynthetic
  • melastatin
  • semisynthetically
Every word from Proto-Hellenic *ksún →