syndicate
Americannoun
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syndicates
plural
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a group of individuals or organizations combined or making a joint effort to undertake some specific duty or carry out specific transactions or negotiations.
The local furniture store is individually owned, but is part of a buying syndicate.
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a combination of bankers or capitalists formed for the purpose of carrying out some project requiring large resources of capital, as the underwriting of an issue of stock or bonds.
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Journalism.
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an agency that buys articles, stories, columns, photographs, comic strips, or other features and distributes them for simultaneous publication in a number of newspapers or periodicals.
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a business organization owning and operating a number of newspapers; newspaper chain.
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a group, combination, or association of gangsters controlling organized crime or one type of crime, especially in one region of the country.
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a council or body of syndics.
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a local organization of employers or employees in Italy during the Fascist regime.
verb (used with object)
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syndicates,
present (3rd person singular)
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syndicated,
past participle, past
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syndicating
present participle
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to combine into a syndicate.
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to publish simultaneously, or supply for simultaneous publication, in a number of newspapers or other periodicals.
Her column is syndicated in 120 papers.
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Television. to sell (a program, series, etc.) directly to independent stations.
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to sell shares in or offer participation in the financial sharing of (a risk venture, loan, or the like).
to syndicate a racehorse among speculators;
to syndicate a loan among several banks.
verb (used without object)
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syndicates,
present (3rd person singular)
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syndicated,
past participle, past
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syndicating
present participle
noun
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an association of business enterprises or individuals organized to undertake a joint project requiring considerable capital
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a news agency that sells articles, photographs, etc, to a number of newspapers for simultaneous publication
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any association formed to carry out an enterprise or enterprises of common interest to its members
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a board of syndics or the office of syndic
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(in Italy under the Fascists) a local organization of employers or employees
verb
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(tr) to sell (articles, photographs, etc) to several newspapers for simultaneous publication
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(tr) to sell (a programme or programmes) to several local commercial television or radio stations
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to form a syndicate of (people)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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syndicatesimple
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syndicatessimple
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have syndicatedperfect
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has syndicatedperfect
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am syndicatingprogressive
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are syndicatingprogressive
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is syndicatingprogressive
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have been syndicatingperfect progressive
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has been syndicatingperfect progressive
Past
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syndicatedsimple
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had syndicatedperfect
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was syndicatingprogressive
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were syndicatingprogressive
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had been syndicatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of syndicate
First recorded in 1600–10; from Middle French syndicat “office of syndic, board of syndics,” from Medieval Latin syndicātus, equivalent to syndic + -ate 3 ( def. )
Explanation
A syndicate is a group of corporations working for a common interest. A syndicate might collectively raise money for a real estate project. A syndicate sometimes has a criminal side — it can also describe a similar alliance of gangsters. Syndicate entered English in the 17th century from the French word syndicat, meaning "representative of a corporation." The Lloyd's of London insurance group is an early example of a syndicate. Syndicate can also describe an agency that sells the rights to copyrighted material, such as feature articles, to newspapers or magazines. The word has a verb form as well. If you work for a syndicate, you might syndicate the classic "Peanuts" cartoon strip in hundreds of newspapers around the world.
Vocabulary lists containing syndicate
Working Together: The Language of Unions
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"An Inside Look at Editorial Cartoons"
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Greetings from Witness Protection!
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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:
San Diego was host to the Cup’s defender series, a competition to select the syndicate to represent the United States in the prestigious yacht-a-palooza.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Details of how to run the syndicate were left to its members — insurers licensed to operate in California who would share in the plan’s profits and losses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
A dual Logoman Kobe-Jordan autographed card that my syndicate bought for $12.93 million last August is now worth $21 million.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Awaludin said the police suspected "MSO" to be part of an international syndicate, and he has been charged with smuggling.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
The “M & M” in “M & M Enterprises” stood for Milo & Minderbinder, and the & was inserted, Milo revealed candidly, to nullify any impression that the syndicate was a one-man operation.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
The United Nations Security Council voted on Tuesday to extend by six months the work of the gang suppression force deployed to combat violent criminal syndicates ravaging Haiti.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
West Africa poses numerous attractive benefits to Mexican syndicates, starting with swathes of forested land which makes well for secluded production sites.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Authorities are also investigating whether foreign syndicates were involved in a recent cyberattack on the Sri Lankan treasury that resulted in around $2.5 million in losses.
From Barron's ● May 17, 2026
Many have lost money to multifamily housing syndicates and investments that turned out to be scams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
There are several syndicates of elementary school teachers.
From Socialism and Democracy in Europe by Samuel P. Orth
By 1967, at age 21, she was among the most recognized figures in American music, having joined Porter Wagoner's syndicated country music television show that broadcast her voice and face into millions of US homes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
That same year, country star Porter Wagoner invited her to join his syndicated weekly variety show and tour with him throughout the country.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
In 1967, country star Porter Wagoner invited Parton to join The Porter Wagoner Show, giving her a regular role on his nationally syndicated television programme as well as a place in his touring stage show.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
—In Europe, bond supply will come from Germany, which auctions 6 billion euros in August 2036 Bund, while Finland is set to go ahead with the syndicated launch of a new seven-year bond.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The next day, Mrs. Roosevelt announced her resignation in her nationally syndicated newspaper column, focusing worldwide attention on the controversy.
From "The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman
Those concentration limits emerged as an obstacle when a group of banks were syndicating some of the loans in late 2025 and early 2026, the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
But as Blue Owl began syndicating the debt financing to institutional investors, some lenders declined to participate and cited CoreWeave’s credit rating as a key reason, Business Insider reported.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026
The banks are currently syndicating only a slice of the $15 billion Citrix debt package as they gauge investor demand.
From Reuters ● Sep. 9, 2022
Though Netflix rode to success syndicating studio content, for the last several years it's focused heavily on original series like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black.
From The Verge ● Nov. 19, 2015
Well, in any case, there’s the five hundred the Denver paper offers, besides what I could make by syndicating the account of my adventure among the Sunday papers.
From Claim Number One by George W. (George Washington) Ogden
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.
