syllabus

American  

[sil-uh-buhs] / ˈsɪl ə bəs /

noun

plural

syllabuses, syllabi

1. 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.

2. Law.

   1. a short summary of the legal basis of a court's decision appearing at the beginning of a reported case.

   2. a book containing summaries of the leading cases in a legal field, used especially by students.

3. 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

1. an outline of a course of studies, text, etc

2. 1. the subjects studied for a particular course

   2. a document which lists these subjects and states how the course will be assessed

---

Syllabus ² British  

/ ˈsɪləbəs /

noun

1. Also called: Syllabus of Errors.  a list of 80 doctrinal theses condemned as erroneous by Pius IX in 1864

2. 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.

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

Example Sentences

I assumed teams would stay intact because the syllabus said “team.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

The sharp contrast between ancients and moderns, the tight syllabus of great books and the insistence that these books often bear cryptic meanings—all are Straussian signatures.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

The head of the National Institute of Education, which is responsible for the syllabus, Manjula Vithanapathirana, has stepped down pending the investigations.

From Barron's • Jan. 2, 2026

We’ve spent the past couple decades marinating in cooking shows, food podcasts, restaurant documentaries, TikTok pantry tours — an endless syllabus of how things ought to look and taste.

From Salon • Dec. 2, 2025

She goes back to the Xerox room to copy her syllabus and a short passage from Flaubert to translate in class.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Related Words

• curriculum
• synopsis