syndicate

Pronunciation: /ˈsɪndɪkət/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities
  2. noun an association of companies for some definite purpose
  3. noun a news agency that sells features or articles or photographs etc. to newspapers for simultaneous publication

Etymology

Anglicized from French syndicat (“office of a syndic; board of syndics; trade union”) on the basis of -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office, a group formed of people of this same office), equivalent to syndic (“syndic; representative; (especially) chief magistrate of Geneva”) + -at (“-ate”, forms nouns denoting rank or office), from Medieval Latin *syndicātus, from syndicus (“representative of a corporation or town; syndic”) (from Ancient Greek σύνδικος (súndikos, “advocate for a defendant”), from σύν (sún, “beside; with”) + δίκη (díkē, “judgment; justice”)) + -ātus (“-ate”). By surface analysis, syndic + -ate. Compare Italian sindacato (“syndicate; trade union; audit, control, supervision”), Occitan sendegat, Portuguese sindicato (“trade union”), Spanish sindicado, sindicato (“office of a syndic; syndicate; trade union”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

crime syndicate, mob, family

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
organized crime
Narrower (hyponyms)
mafia

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