syntheticadj.n.
/sɪnˈθɛtɪk/, U.S. /sɪnˈθɛdɪk/ (In most senses opposed to analytic n. and adj.)
A. adj.† 3. Pertaining to grammatical construction. Obsolete. rare.1778 R. Lowth Isaiah Prelim. Diss. p. xxi The Third sort of Parallels [in Hebrew poetry] I call Synthetic or Constructive: where the Parallelism consists only in the similar form of Construction.
1. Logic, Philosophy, etc. Proceeding from causes or general principles to consequences or particular instances; deductive: cf. synthesis n. 1.
ΚΠ
1697 tr. F. Burgersdijck Monitio Logica ii. 135 Synthetic is that which proceeds from the most simple Principles, to those things which are compounded of those Principles.
1697 tr. F. Burgersdijck Monitio Logica ii. 136 The Sciences Theoretical, such as Physicks, Metaphysicks, Mathematicks, &c. are disposed in Synthetick Method.
1798 C. Hutton Course Math. I. 3 Synthesis, or the Synthetic Method, is the searching out truth, by first laying down some simple and easy principles, and pursuing the consequences flowing from them till we arrive at the conclusion.
1832 A. Johnson tr. W. G. Tennemann Man. Hist. Philos. 33 [Philosophy] proceeds (on general topics) either from principles to consequences (the synthetic order); or from consequences to principles (the analytic order).
a1862 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1864) II. vi. 572 By reasoning from the twofold ideas of action and of sympathy, Hunter constructed the deductive or synthetic part of his pathology.
1869 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 2nd Ser. 184 [He] descends into phenomena by Newton's synthetic method.
2.
a. Chemistry. Pertaining to or involving synthesis; of organic compounds, produced by artificial synthesis: see synthesis n. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > chemical processes or reactions > [adjective] > relating to or involving artificial synthesis
synthetical?1734
synthetic1753
polyester1979
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl.
1796 G. Pearson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 86 430 It appears from the synthetic experiments that the grain becomes finer as the proportion of tin is increased.
1806 W. Henry Epitome Chem. (ed. 4) 148 A decisive synthetic proof of the nature of this acid.
1857 W. A. Miller Elements Chem.: Org. (1862) i. §3. 69 Synthetic Production of Organic Compounds.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VI. 491 The chromatin (nuclein) in some manner regulates the synthetic metabolism of the cell.
b. Of a substance: made by chemical synthesis in imitation of a natural product (cf. syn- comb. form). Also, esp. of a man-made fibre or fabric: made from synthetic materials rather than natural ones (cf. man-made adj.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > organic chemistry > chemical processes or reactions > [adjective] > synthesized in imitation of natural product
synthetic1874
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > man-made textiles > [adjective] > synthetic
synthetic1932
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from man-made fibres > [adjective] > synthetic
synthetic1932
1874 Chem. News 12 June 265/1 (heading) Synthetic cymol obtained from normal bromide of propyl and crystalline bromtoluol.
1907 Chem. Abstr. 1 1179 (heading) Synthetic resins.
1907 Nature 25 Apr. 614/2 Since ‘synthetic’ indigo was put upon the market in 1897, some uncertainty has existed regarding its tinctorial value as compared with the natural dyestuff.
1909 Chem. Abstr. 3 1818 Process of manufacturing synthetic resins as substitutes for shellac, consisting in treating o-cresol with formaldehyde in the presence of an acid.
1932 B. Hedworth Foolish Pelican ii. iv. 136 She had discovered..that synthetic stockings wore better than pure silk.
1941 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 45 145 Mechanically, natural rubber is not surpassed by any synthetic rubber. However, in resistance to swelling by organic liquids..and deterioration by sunlight or oxidising agents, synthetic rubbers have been found superior.
1946 A. J. Hall Standard Handbk. Textiles i. 66 The du Pont company..commenced the manufacture of a synthetic fibre which has since become known..as nylon.
1955 J. G. Davis Dict. Dairying (ed. 2) 1005 Synthetic or imitation cream.
1955 Times (Suppl.) p. ii/1 The first man-made forest of such a size to be used for large-scale paper-making.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) V. 242/1 Rayon is a man-made fibre but not a synthetic fiber. Nylon is a synthetic fiber.
1973 Materials & Technol. VI. 485 The cleaning of man-made fibres is usually a relatively simple operation which involves a treatment with a mild soap or a synthetic detergent solution.
1983 Sci. Amer. Apr. 73/3 In the 19th century, before the boom in organic chemistry that followed the discovery of synthetic dyes, many prominent chemists had undertaken analyses of inorganic natural substances.
c. figurative. Artificial, imitation, invented.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > imitation > simulation > [adjective] > artificial or made in imitation of what is real
artificialc1425
unnatural1610
mimical1624
mimic1625
faux1684
mimetic1756
sham1762
imitative1839
imitation1840
mocked-up1919
synthetic1930
1930 Daily Express 16 Oct. 10/5 With the synthetic idiot, Harpo, you must have a vein of the ridiculous in your laughter gland if boredom is to be kept at bay.
1932 Sun (Baltimore) 29 Aug. 8/2 A printing press upon which were struck off bogus service certificates for ‘synthetic veterans’.
1934 Amer. Speech 9 101/2 Even when launched in a preliminary fashion, with say fifty or a hundred users, the synthetic language will not grow of itself.
1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway iv. 92 The synthetic, phoney film business.
1948 Newsweek 10 May 34/2 He has been in London long enough to achieve a synthetic British appearance.
1949 Hansard Commons 12 Dec. 2417 I have seldom heard such an outburst of indignation... It seemed to me a little synthetic.
1976 E. Fromm To have or to Be? (1979) ii. iv. 92 The learned, synthetic smile of the marketplace.
d. Aeronautics. Of training, exercises, etc.: simulating on the ground what is performed in the air; also elliptical. Similarly of equipment used in such training.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > action of flying (in) aircraft > training > [adjective] > simulating
synthetic1942
1942 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) 2 93 All sorts of gadgets and synthetic devices are used..from the cine-film assessor..to the Fisher trainer.
1944 Horizon Jan. 49 We are now in the middle of ‘synthetic’—i.e. doing things on the ground as they will be done from the air.
1948 Hansard Commons 15 Mar. 1808 If people can go for an hour or two in the evenings for synthetic training.
1949 Aircraft Engin. Apr. 122/2 There is ample mathematical and electric knowledge in existence to-day to construct ‘synthetic aircraft’ to simulate the flight of any proposed aircraft from the design data.
1956 U.S. Air Force Dict. 504/2 Synthetic,..artificial or simulated, as in synthetic combat mission, synthetic training device, etc.
1976 R. Hurst Pilot Error 260 Complementary process of behavioural engineering and the selection and training of pilots..Performance prediction. Synthetic flight training. Performance assessment.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > [adjective]
syntactical1577
syntaxical1592
syntactic1688
tactical1698
synthetic1778
compositional1815
grammatical1874
taxis1885
syntagmatic1937
lexotactic1966
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. viii. 130 That it [sc. speech] should cary an orderly and good construction, which they [sc. ‘the first learned artificers of language’] called Synthesis.]
4. In the philosophy of Kant, (a) applied to judgements which add to the subject attributes not directly implied in it; (b) pertaining to the synthesis of the manifold.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > idealism > [adjective] > of or relating to Kantianism and its adherents
dialectical1788
Kantian1796
synthetical1796
synthetic1819
multiplex1838
multiple1839
tri-logicala1856
pre-Kantian1866
dialectic1872
subreptive1877
criticist1878
category1901
1819 J. Richardson tr. I. Kant Logic Introd. 80 Analytic or synthetic marks. Those are partial conceptions of the actual conception.., these, partial ones of the merely possible whole conception.
1836 J. W. Semple Kant's Metaphysic of Ethic p. lxvii The synthetic unity of consciousness.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 175/2 All speculative à priori knowledge ultimately rests upon such synthetic or extending judgments; for though the analytical are highly important and requisite for science, still their importance is mainly derived from their being indispensable to a wide and legitimate synthesis, whereby alone a new acquisition in science can be made.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 177/2 The synthetic activity of the judgment.
1856 J. F. Ferrier Inst. Metaphysic (ed. 2) 25 (note) .
5.
a. Of, pertaining to, consisting in, or involving synthesis, or combination of parts into a whole; constructive.In quots. a1703 and 1798 applied to the logical method more conventionally called analytical (the opposite of sense A. 1); cf. quot. 1833.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being combined > [adjective]
systatic1640
combinatory1647
systatical1654
synthetica1703
synthetical1799
integrational1937
a1703 R. Hooke Disc. Earthquakes in Posthumous Wks. (1705) 330 The methods of attaining this end may be two, either the Analytick, or the Synthetick. The first is proceeding from the Causes to the Effects. The second from the Effects to the Causes.
1773 S. Horsley in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 64 280 Both these theorems are so easily derived from the preceeding analysis of the problem, that it is needless to add the synthetic demonstration.
1798 M. Edgeworth & R. L. Edgeworth Pract. Educ. I. iii. 115 There are two methods of teaching; one which ascends from particular facts to general principles, the other which descends from the general principles to particular facts; one which builds up, another which takes to pieces; the synthetic and the analytic method.
a1825 H. Fuseli Lect. x, in J. Knowles Life & Writings H. Fuseli (1831) II. 373 Analytic or synthetic, from the whole to the parts, or from the parts to the whole.
1833 Sir W. Hamilton in Edinb. Rev. 57 236 Some..call this mode of hunting up the essence the Analytic; others again, regarding the genus as the whole, the species and individuals as the parts, style it the Compositive, or Synthetic, or Collective.
1873 P. G. Hamerton Thoughts about Art xii. 181 Since painting is..work emphatically synthetic (being the union of many forms and colours and lights and darks into artistic wholes).
1887 G. T. Ladd Elem. Physiol. Psychol. ii. vi. 388 Its [sc. the mind's] activity in combining the sensations into the more complex presentations of sense... This combining activity is best called ‘synthetic’, or constructive.
b. Concerned with or using synthesis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > condition or state of being combined > [adjective] > concerned with or using synthesis
synthetical1812
synthetic1864
1864 P. G. Hamerton in Fine Arts Q. Rev. May 238 The synthetic habit of mind.
1877 J. Tyndall in Daily News 2 Oct. 2/4 That vague and general insight..which..was more frequently affirmed by the synthetic poet than by the scientific man.
6. Grammar and Philology. Characterized by combination of simple words or elements into compound or complex words; expressing a complex notion by a single compounded or complex word instead of by a number of distinct words. (Opposed to analytical adj. 5.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > word-formation > [adjective] > compound
compound sentence1772
synthetic1816
1816 P. S. Du Ponceau in Trans. Hist. & Lit. Comm. Amer. Philos. Soc. (1819) I. 401 The third class [of languages] would..be that in which the principal parts of speech are formed by a synthetical operation of the mind, and in which several ideas are frequently expressed by one word. Such are what are called the Oriental languages, with the Latin, Greek, Slavonic, and others of the same description. These I would call synthetic.
1835 G. C. Lewis Ess. Romance Lang. i. 26 By this change the Latin language of western Europe passed from the synthetic to the analytic class.
1845 Proc. Philol. Soc. 2 168 Synthetic forms are not necessarily strictly parallel with the analytic ones of the same import.
1870 F. W. Farrar Families of Speech i. 27 The synthetic character of ancient languages, compared with the analysis which distinguishes their modern representatives.
1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. vi. 105 The loss of formal grammatical distinction by synthetic means.
7. Biology. Combining in one organism different characters which in the later course of evolution are specialized in different organisms; having a generalized or undifferentiated type of structure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [adjective] > specialization > non-specialized
synthetic1859
1859 L. Agassiz Ess. Classif. 178 Sauroid Fishes and Ichthyosauri are more distinctly synthetic than prophetic types.
1872 H. A. Nicholson Man. Palæontol. 482 Synthetic or generalised plants, having rhizomata resembling those of some ferns, stems having the structure of Lycopodium [etc.].
8. Mathematics. Applied to ordinary (as distinct from analytical, i.e. algebraic) geometry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > [adjective] > branches of
stereometrical1656
Apollonian1704
Euclidean1714
isoperimetrical1743
stereotomical1828
stereotomic1860
stereometric1862
graphic1865
parabolic1872
metageometrical1882
pangeometrical1882
Riemannian1889
synthetic1889
polygonometric1890
Lobachevskian1896
topological1913
1889 N. F. Dupuis (title) Elementary Synthetic Geometry of the Point, Line and Circle in the Plane.
B. n.
A product obtained by artificial synthesis rather than from natural sources; esp. a synthetic fibre or fabric. Chiefly plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > man-made textiles > [noun] > synthetic
synthetic1934
man-made1968
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > materials having undergone process > [noun] > synthetic material
synthetic1934
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from man-made fibres > [noun] > synthetic
synthetic1934
1934 in Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1940 New Statesman 16 Mar. 361/1 The scientists could see in such synthetics [sc. plastics]..the threat of maladjustments in industry.
1943 Sun (Baltimore) 10 Feb. 4/2 The company built the new plant at its own expense in an effort to increase supplies of the badly needed synthetic.
1951 P. Z. Bedoukian (title) Perfumery synthetics and isolates.
1957 Times 12 Nov. (Canada Suppl.) p. v/3 Trapping becomes less and less profitable as synthetics displace furs.
1972 D. Bloodworth Any Number can Play ii. 10 Lightweight suits cut from one of those shiny Japanese synthetics.
1982 Sunday Times 9 May 54/5 There was a sudden scramble to get out of synthetics—those expensive ‘fuels of the future’.
Compounds
Special collocations.
synthetic aperture n. a simulated aperture obtained by moving an aerial or detector transversely during reception so as to increase its effective length; usually attributive, esp. designating radar employing this.
ΚΠ
1962 IRE Trans. Mil. Electronics 6 111 (heading) Some early developments in synthetic aperture radar systems.
1962 IRE Trans. Mil. Electronics 6 113/2 Differences between physical and synthetic apertures.
1977 Sci. Amer. Oct. 89/1 Since resolution is proportional to the length of the antenna but inversely proportional to the range, for synthetic-aperture radar the two effects compensate for each other... Synthetic-aperture radar thus makes it possible to obtain high-resolution images of terrain many miles away.
1979 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 224/2 Holography has also been applied, in the form of synthetic-aperture techniques, to the B-scan acoustic reflection systems to provide greater detail in the body areas located near the acoustic transducer.
Synthetic Cubism n. a type of Cubism involving the combination or reorganization of forms, rather than their analysis (see Cubism n.).
ΚΠ
1947 D. Cooper tr. D. H. Kahnweiler Juan Gris ii. vi. 89 Synthetic Cubism was built on a lasting foundation. Gris..finally gave up presenting the beholder with a great variety of information..about the objects which he displayed. He now offered a synthesis: that is to say, he packed his knowledge into one significant form, an emblem.
1981 Times Lit. Suppl. 9 Jan. 24/3 When constructed sculpture came, along with Synthetic Cubism in 1912, it did so with suddenness, éclat, and in quantity.
Synthetic Cubist n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1981 Times Lit. Suppl. 9 Jan. 24/4 It is often forgotten that Synthetic Cubist space without collage was potentially the most flexible and exciting pictorial space since the Baroque.
Draft additions June 2008
synthetic rubber n. any of various synthetic materials, typically polymeric hydrocarbons, having some properties of natural rubber.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > synthetic resins and plastics > [noun] > synthetic rubber
artificial rubber1847
synthetic rubber1906
rubber1912
elastomer1939
1906 Times 7 Aug. 11/2 It will only remain to cheapen the cost of production to make the manufacture of synthetic rubber a purely practical problem.
1959 Times 27 Apr. (Rubber Industry Suppl.) p. ii/4 These basic synthetic rubbers, buna S, neoprene and perbunan, developed in the 1930s, were the forerunners of the main synthetic rubbers we use to-day.
1973 T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 95 He wears a false cunt and merkin of sable.., the mock labia and bright purple clitoris molded of..synthetic rubber.
2006 Build It May 79/2 An increasingly popular new form of waterproofing is a synthetic rubber called EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer).
Draft additions September 2020
synthetic cannabinoid n. any of various synthetic compounds which mimic the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol and other constituents of cannabis, often used as recreational or medicinal drugs.
ΚΠ
1970 Toxicon 8 162 In the present work the psychopharmacological activity of 𝛥1-tetrahydrocannabinol..and other naturally occurring or synthetic cannabinoids has been examined in a variety of animal tests.
1984 Brit. National Formulary (Brit. Med. Assoc.) No. 8. 158/2 Nabilone..is a synthetic cannabinoid... It is beneficial in the relief of nausea and vomiting associated with cytotoxic drug therapy.
2019 Amer. Jrnl. Emergency Med. 37 374.e3 Synthetic cannabinoids contain many different chemicals and compounds, which pose new health risks to the population using these drugs.
Draft additions September 2022
synthetic biology n. †(a) an approach to biology which focuses on the understanding of complex and integrated systems rather than on the properties of their component parts (obsolete, rare); (b) (in the terminology of Stéphane Leduc) the creation and study of (models or simulations of) biological processes, systems, or organisms in vitro (now historical); (c) the interdisciplinary science that deals with the modification or artificial creation of biological organisms, systems, or processes, (now) esp. by the use of genetic engineering techniques. [In sense (b) after French biologie synthétique (1907 or earlier).]
ΚΠ
1864 H. Doherty Org. Philos. I. Pref. p. iv We mention seven kinds of anatomy and physiology as necessary branches of antecedent analysis, and give our own concomitant analysis of the human body as a necessary basis for synthetic biology.
1907 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 2 Feb. 459/1 Synthetic Biology.—Stéphane Leduc has succeeded by combining certain chemicals in producing cells which simulate living cells in every respect.
1979 Science 9 Nov. 667 As much, or perhaps as little, as 20 years separates the beginning of analytic biology from that of synthetic biology. 1953 was the year of the discovery of the structure of DNA; 1973 the moment when the recombinant DNA technique was first described.
2017 Economist 23 Dec. (Christmas ed.) 76/1 Practitioners of ‘synthetic biology’ are learning to genetically engineer microbes that can synthesise the building blocks of petrochemicals—and indeed the chemicals themselves.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online September 2022).
<
adj.n.1697