English
synoptic
Synoptic comes from New Latin synopticus, from Ancient Greek συνοπτικός ‘seeing the whole together or at a glance’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-1‘to see’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄψ2‘eye’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄψις3ópsis‘view’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσύνοψις3súnopsis‘a general view, synopsis’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσυνοπτικός3sunoptikós‘seeing the whole together or at a glance’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900synopticus3
- Englishtodaysynoptic3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄψ
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄψις
- 3 Wiktionary, English synoptic
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ekʷ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄψ‘to see’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄψWiktionary, Ancient Greek ὄψις‘eye’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄψιςWiktionary, English synopticópsis‘view’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσύνοψιςWiktionary, English synopticsúnopsis‘a general view, synopsis’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσυνοπτικόςWiktionary, English synopticsunoptikós‘seeing the whole together or at a glance’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900synopticusWiktionary, English synoptic
- EnglishtodaysynopticWiktionary, English synoptic
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’
eye, anthropology, oculus, ocular, ogle, inoculation, awk, monocle, doily, inoculate, anthropoid, 38 more
through Ancient Greek ὄψις ‘view’
Today it means
adj Of or relating to a synopsis.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “synoptic”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ὄψ, Ancient Greek ὄψις. 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 *h₃ekʷ- / synoptic