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synopsis - 4 dictionary results

syn⋅op⋅sis

  [si-nop-sis]
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–noun, plural -ses  [-seez] .
1. a brief or condensed statement giving a general view of some subject.
2. a compendium of heads or short paragraphs giving a view of the whole.
3. a brief summary of the plot of a novel, motion picture, play, etc.
Origin:
1605–15; < LL < Gk sýnopsis, equiv. to syn- syn- + op- (suppletive s. of horân to see; cf. autopsy ) + -sis -sis

Synonyms:
condensation, epitome, abstract, abridgment, précis. See summary.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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syn·op·sis   (sĭ-nŏp'sĭs)   
n.   pl. syn·op·ses (-sēz)
A brief outline or general view, as of a subject or written work; an abstract or a summary.

[Late Latin, from Greek sunopsis, general view : sun-, syn- + opsis, view; see okw- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Synopsis

Syn*op"sis\, n.; pl. Synopses. [L., from Gr. ?; sy`n with, together + ? a sight, view, from the root seen in E. optic.] A general view, or a collection of heads or parts so arranged as to exhibit a general view of the whole; an abstract or summary of a discourse; a syllabus; a conspectus.

That the reader may see in one view the exactness of the method, as well as force of the argument, I shall here draw up a short synopsis of this epistle. --Bp. Warburton.

Syn: Abridgment; compendium; epitome; abstract; summary; syllabus; conspectus. See Abridgment.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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synopsis 
1611, from L.L. synopsis "a synopsis," from Gk. synopsis "general view," from a stem of synoran "to see altogether, all at once," from syn- "together" + horan "to see, view." Synoptic (1763) is applied to the first three Gospels (1841) on notion of "giving an account of events from the same point of view."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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