English
synaxis
Synaxis comes from Ancient Greek σύναξις ‘gathering’, from ἄγω ‘lead, guide’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1‘to drive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti1‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ágō1‘to lead, to guide’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγω2‘lead, guide’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσυνάγω3sunágō‘to gather’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσύναξις3súnaxis‘gathering’
- Englishearliest quotation 1660synaxis3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγω
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek συνάγω
- 3 Wiktionary, English synaxis
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium: “Thus we find the bishops in the primitive church…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγω‘to drive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵetiWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγω‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*ágōWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγω‘to lead, to guide’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγωWiktionary, Ancient Greek συνάγω‘lead, guide’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσυνάγωWiktionary, English synaxissunágō‘to gather’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσύναξιςWiktionary, English synaxissúnaxis‘gathering’
- Englishearliest quotation 1660synaxisWiktionary, English synaxis. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1660, Jeremy Taylor, Ductor Dubitantium: “Thus we find the bishops in the primitive church…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’
suggest, reaction, register, actively, essay, transaction, acre, gesture, radioactive, digest, congestion, inactive, agrarian, belligerent, progesterone, gestation, ingestion, retroactive, reagent, hyperactivity, ingest, unambiguous, agitate, ambiguously, agger, samaj, gerund, gestion, 127 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’
act, action, active, agency, activity, actual, agent, actor, agenda, activate, ambiguous, squat, agile, ambiguity, agility, assay, agitation, radium, actuator, cogent, actuation, inexact, actuate, exigent, 110 more
through Proto-Hellenic *ágō ‘to lead, to guide’
agony, antagonist, antagonism, agonist, antagonize, axiomatic, agonize, 21 more
through Ancient Greek ἄγω ‘lead, guide’
strategy, axiom, stratagem, glucagon, 15 more
through Ancient Greek συνάγω ‘to gather’
Today it means
noun A congregation.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “synaxis”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ἄγω, Ancient Greek συνάγω. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / synaxis