syllabus
noun
an outline or other brief statement of the main points of a discourse, the subjects of a course of lectures, the contents of a curriculum, etc.
syllabus
American
[sil-uh-buhs]
/ ˈsɪl ə bəs /
noun
-
syllabuses,
plural
-
syllabi
plural
-
an outline or other brief statement of the main points of a discourse, the subjects of a course of lectures, the contents of a curriculum, etc.
-
Law.
-
a short summary of the legal basis of a court's decision appearing at the beginning of a reported case.
-
a book containing summaries of the leading cases in a legal field, used especially by students.
-
-
Also called Syllabus of Errors. (often initial capital letter) the list of 80 propositions condemned as erroneous by Pope Pius IX in 1864.
syllabus
1
British
/ ˈsɪləbəs /
noun
-
an outline of a course of studies, text, etc
-
-
the subjects studied for a particular course
-
a document which lists these subjects and states how the course will be assessed
-
Syllabus
2
British
/ ˈsɪləbəs /
noun
-
Also called: Syllabus of Errors. a list of 80 doctrinal theses condemned as erroneous by Pius IX in 1864
-
a list of 65 Modernist propositions condemned as erroneous by Pius X in 1907
Usage
Plural word for syllabus The plural form of syllabus can be either syllabuses or syllabi, pronounced [ sil-uh-bahy ], but syllabi is more widely used. The plurals of several other singular words ending in -us are also formed in this way, such as virus/viruses, sinus/sinuses, and walrus/walruses. Irregular plurals that are formed like syllabi, such as cactus/cacti and fungus/fungi, derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin. However, the standard English plural -es ending is often also acceptable for these terms, as in cactuses.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of syllabus
1650–60; < New Latin syllabus, syllabos, probably a misreading (in manuscripts of Cicero) of Greek síttybās, accusative plural of síttyba label for a papyrus roll
Explanation
A syllabus is a document that outlines everything that will be covered in a class. A syllabus for World Domination 101 might include: strategies for brainwashing the masses, creating an army on a budget, cultivating absolute certainty, and so on. The noun syllabus comes from the Late Latin word syllabus, meaning “list.” When you teach a class you may be required to make an outline of what you will expect the students to do in your class. That’s the syllabus. A syllabus could vaguely mention the topics that will be covered each week or it can be a detailed synopsis of every reading assignment, homework expectation, and exam question. Syllabus style is the teacher’s choice.
Vocabulary lists containing syllabus
Language Gone Wrong: Words That Started Out as Errors
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The Vocabulary of College
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Education and Academics, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His challenge was to make this lesson more than just another unit on the syllabus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
At universities, the ban has restricted access to online research and course materials, with one Herat student saying he had used his phone to help with about half the syllabus.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
But her thorough coursework and off-the-beaten-path syllabus of films opened my eyes to countless new ideas and perspectives.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
I assumed teams would stay intact because the syllabus said “team.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
Ms. Singh hands out our syllabus, and I flip through it, scanning for all the titles we're going to read this year.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
Over the past few years, our team at the Open Syllabus Project has collected and analyzed more than six million syllabuses from university websites.
From New York Times ● Oct. 19, 2019
At present, Open Syllabus Explorer searches more than 1 million syllabuses dating back to 2000, cross-referenced with 20 million texts, to produce data on how often a text is taught.
From Nature ● Oct. 30, 2016
Her Syllabus course paired up graduate students and preschoolers as co-researchers, stressing that it should be an equal exchange.
From The Guardian ● May 14, 2015
Syllabus for the class can be found here.
From Forbes ● Dec. 12, 2014
Syllabus A included a course taught by Kathy, “A History of the Indian Struggle.”
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
You tell Muse to check the syllabi for her classes and order all the books to her dorm room.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
At Tulane, it had been seminars, 50 kids in a session, textbooks and unwavering syllabi.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025
Students hesitate before volunteering their opinions in class, while faculty appear more cautious, even including disclaimers in their syllabi.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2025
Administrative representatives at the university’s main campus in Anza and a branch campus in Mill Valley, Calif., did not have documents readily available related to student and faculty rosters and class syllabi, officers said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2024
I still have the syllabi from all my classes, and David’s been bringing me assignments.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
Campus syllabuses have been pared down to accommodate this generational change.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The story won the Paris Review’s 2013 Plimpton Prize for Fiction and has appeared on syllabuses at other universities.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
The notion is expressed in the survey results, which found wide variation in how faculty members mention AI use in syllabuses or whether they encourage or discourage AI in classes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
Discussion of new class schedules and syllabuses, and the excitement of students learning their friends were in the same course, filled the plaza between the Student Union Building and campus library Wednesday morning.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 11, 2023
It was preordained, then, that the syllabuses which the Department issued, year by year, in the days of payment by results should have few merits and many defects.
From What Is and What Might Be A Study of Education in General and Elementary Education in Particular by Edmond Holmes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
