syndicate
Americannoun
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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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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)
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.
This commentary — “Get Ready for an Overdue Fed Overhaul” — is published with the permission of Project Syndicate.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 4, 2025
Communications remain cut across the city, including satellite networks, leaving El-Fasher in a "media blackout", according to the Sudanese Journalists' Syndicate.
From Barron's • Oct. 27, 2025
I decided to play along with Syndicate after taking advice from a senior BBC editor.
From BBC • Sep. 29, 2025
By 1960 his strip was being distributed nationally by the Hall Syndicate.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 21, 2025
My granddaughter, Julia Richards, undertook to interview the Syndicate by long-distance telephone, and, failing this, to telegraph the new line for me.
From Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 by Elliott, Maud Howe
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.
