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:
At my last review he threw something at me I didn’t see coming — a private syndicate in the UAE that invests in data centers.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
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
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
“What syndicate ?” “The syndicate I’d like to form someday so that I can give you men the good food you deserve.”
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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
The fight to dismantle these syndicates looks almost like a military effort.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Many of the Malawians at Sherwood admitted they did not have valid papers to be in the country, claiming they had been lured by syndicates promising jobs in factories, homes and mines.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
"There was a vacuum. That's when the syndicates began to force their way in," she said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
Owing to the necessary disturbance of the ancestral burial places, much trouble has been anticipated in the construction of the railways, for which concessions have now been granted to European syndicates.
From Man, Past and Present by Alfred Court Haddon
In July, CoreWeave’s bankers revised terms of a syndicated loan sale to attract enough investors, ultimately pricing the debt at a yield above 10%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
I never saw the song performed live, but everyone knew about it because R.E.M. played it at a 1984 show in Seattle that was recorded for a syndicated radio show called “The Source.”
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Bush landed at the syndicated show “Extra” in 2019 and hosted for five seasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
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
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
The government adopted “financial interest and syndication,” or “fin-syn,” rules in the 1970s, preventing broadcasters from syndicating their own content and owning perpetual financial interest in their shows.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 12, 2025
According to a banker who works on debt syndications, their team is avoiding syndicating deals next week on expected market volatility, as well as due to holiday vacations during the Memorial Day week.
From Reuters ● May 26, 2023
Goldman is paid to cover the financial risk of acquiring a debt pile of this size before syndicating it out.
From New York Times ● Mar. 15, 2023
Nothing but action could keep her from syndicating her secret before the proper moment, so while the repast was in progress, she hurried about doing, undoing, and doing over again, various household tasks.
From The Misfit Christmas Puddings by Club Consolation
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