Syntax - Definitions from Dictionary.com

8 results for: Syntax

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

syn·tax

Audio Help [sin-taks] Pronunciation Key

–noun

Linguistics.

a.	the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a language.

b.	the study of the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words.

c.	the rules or patterns so studied: English syntax.

d.	a presentation of these: a syntax of English.

e.	an instance of these: the syntax of a sentence.

Logic.

a.	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.

b.	the outcome of such a study when directed upon a specified language.

3.	a system or orderly arrangement.

4.	Computers. 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.

[Origin: 1565–75; short for earlier syntaxis < LL < Gk sýntaxis an arranging in order, equiv. to syntag- (see syntactic) + -sis -sis

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Syntax

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

syn·tax Audio Help (sĭn'tāks') Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The study of the rules whereby words or other elements of sentence structure are combined to form grammatical sentences.
2. A publication, such as a book, that presents such rules.
3. The pattern of formation of sentences or phrases in a language.
4. Such a pattern in a particular sentence or discourse.
Computer Science The rules governing the formation of statements in a programming language.
A systematic, orderly arrangement.

[French syntaxe, from Late Latin syntaxis, from Greek suntaxis, from suntassein, to put in order : sun-, syn- + tassein, tag-, to arrange.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
syntax

1605, from Fr. syntaxe, from L.L. syntaxis, from Gk. syntaxis "a putting together or in order, arrangement, syntax," from stem of syntassein "put in order," from syn- "together" + tassein "arrange" (see tactics).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

syntax
noun
1.	the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
2.	a systematic orderly arrangement
3.	studies of the rules for forming admissible sentences

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
syntax [ˈsintӕks] noun

(the rules for) the correct arrangement of words in a sentence

Arabic:	عِلْم النَّحو
Chinese (Simplified):	句法
Chinese (Traditional):	句法
Czech:	skladba
Danish:	syntaks
Dutch:	syntaxis
Estonian:	süntaks
Finnish:	syntaksi
French:	syntaxe
German:	die Syntax
Greek:	σύνταξη (γραμμ.)
Hungarian:	mondattan
Icelandic:	setningafræði
Indonesian:	sintaks
Italian:	sintassi

Japanese:	統語論
Korean:	?문법? 구문론
Latvian:	sintakse
Lithuanian:	sintaksė
Norwegian:	syntaks, setningslære
Polish:	składnia
Portuguese (Brazil):	sintaxe
Portuguese (Portugal):	sintaxe
Romanian:	sintaxă
Russian:	синтаксис
Slovak:	skladba, syntax
Slovenian:	sintaksa
Spanish:	sintaxis
Swedish:	syntax, satslära
Turkish:	söz dizimi, sentaks

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
syntax

The sequence in which words are put together to form sentences. In English, the usual sequence is subject, verb, and object.

Note: Syntactic languages, such as English, use word order to indicate word relationships. Inflected languages (see inflection), such as Greek and Latin, use word endings and other inflections to indicate relationships.

[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

syntax
The structure of strings in some language. A language's syntax is described by a grammar. For example, the syntax of a binary number could be expressed as
binary_number = bit [ binary_number ]
bit = "0" | "1"
meaning that a binary number is a bit optionally followed by a binary number and a bit is a literal zero or one digit.
The meaning of the language is given by its semantics.
See also abstract syntax, concrete syntax.
(1994-10-31)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Syntax

Syn*tac"tic\, Syntactical \Syn*tac"tic*al\, a. [Cf. G. ? putting together. See Syntax.] Of or pertaining to syntax; according to the rules of syntax, or construction. -- Syn*tac"tic*al*ly, adv.

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