syntax
[sin-taks]
|
noun
Linguistics.
- the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a language.
- the study of the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words.
- the rules or patterns so studied: English syntax.
- a presentation of these: a syntax of English.
- an instance of these: the syntax of a sentence.
Logic.
- that branch of modern logic that studies the various kinds of signs that occur in a system and the possible arrangements of those signs, complete abstraction being made of the meaning of the signs.
- the outcome of such a study when directed upon a specified language.
a system or orderly arrangement.
Computers. the grammatical rules and structural patterns governing the ordered use of appropriate words and symbols for issuing commands, writing code, etc., in a particular software application or programming language.
Origin of syntax
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for syntaxes
Historical Examples of syntaxes
He runs over all sciences to peruse their syntaxes, and thinks all learning comprised in writing Latin.
The Book Lovers' AnthologyVarious
syntax
noun
Word Origin for syntax
C17: from Late Latin syntaxis, from Greek suntaxis, from suntassein to put in order, from syn- + tassein to arrange
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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syntax
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
syntax
Note
Syntactic languages, such as English, use word order to indicate word relationships. Inflected languages (see inflection), such as Greek and Latin, use word endings and other inflections to indicate relationships.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.