syntax

UK: /ˈsɪntæks/ US: /ˈsɪntæks/ ,(sin′taks)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

syn•tax /ˈsɪntæks/   n. [uncountable]

1. Linguistics
   • the study of the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words in a language and of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences.
   • the patterns or rules so studied:
     English syntax.

syn•tac•tic /sɪnˈtæktɪk/  syn•tac•ti•cal, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

syn•tax  (sin′taks), n. 

1. 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.
2. Philosophy [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.
3. a system or orderly arrangement.
4. Computing 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.

• Greek sýntaxis an arranging in order, equivalent. to syntag- (see syntactic) + -sis -sis
• Late Latin
• short for earlier syntaxis 1565–75

syntax, +n. 

1. Computing 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.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

syntax / ˈsɪntæks/ noun

1. the branch of linguistics that deals with the grammatical arrangement of words and morphemes in the sentences of a language or of languages in general
2. the totality of facts about the grammatical arrangement of words in a language
3. a systematic statement of the rules governing the grammatical arrangement of words and morphemes in a language
4. a systematic statement of the rules governing the properly formed formulas of a logical system

Etymology: 17th Century: from Late Latin syntaxis, from Greek suntaxis, from suntassein to put in order, from syn- + tassein to arrange