Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

syntactic

[sin-tak-tik]
See more synonyms for syntactic on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. of or relating to syntax: syntactic errors in English; the syntactic rules for computer source code.
  2. consisting of or noting morphemes that are combined in the same order as they would be if they were separate words in a corresponding construction: The word blackberry, which consists of an adjective followed by a noun, is a syntactic compound.
Show More
Also syn·tac·ti·cal.

Origin of syntactic

1570–80; < New Latin syntacticus < Greek syntaktikós, equivalent to syntakt(ós) ordered, arranged together, verbid of syntássein to arrange together (syn- syn- + tag-, base of tássein to arrange + -tos adj. suffix) + -ikos -ic; see tactic
Related formssyn·tac·ti·cal·ly, adverbnon·syn·tac·tic, adjectivenon·syn·tac·ti·cal, adjectivenon·syn·tac·ti·cal·ly, adverbun·syn·tac·tic, adjectiveun·syn·tac·ti·cal, adjectiveun·syn·tac·ti·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for syntactical

Historical Examples

  • "Parole in libert," words free from syntactical shackles are the words with which we shall fight the battle of the future.

    Idling in Italy

    Joseph Collins

  • The cause of this variation in the force of the two beats is to be sought in the laws of the syntactical accent.

  • The instrumental, locative and dative are mixed in one case, partly for phonetic, partly for syntactical reasons.

  • It coincides less closely than the cesura with syntactical and rhetorical pauses.

    English Verse

    Raymond MacDonald Alden, Ph.D.

  • Less generally, the rhetorical or syntactical accent in the same way takes precedence of the metrical.

    English Verse

    Raymond MacDonald Alden, Ph.D.

British Dictionary definitions for syntactical

syntactic

adjective
  1. Also: synˈtactical relating to or determined by syntax
  2. logic linguistics describable wholly with respect to the grammatical structure of an expression or the rules of well-formedness of a formal system
Show More
Derived Formssyntactically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for syntactical

adj.

1570s, from Modern Latin syntacticus, from syntaxis (see syntax). Related: Syntactically.

Show More

syntactic

adj.

1807, from Modern Latin syntacticus, from Greek syntaktikos, from syntassein (see syntax).

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper