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syntax

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syn⋅tax

  [sin-taks]
Use syntax in a Sentence
–noun
1. 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.
2. 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
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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syn·tax   (sĭn'tāks')   
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.

  2. Computer Science The rules governing the formation of statements in a programming language.

  3. 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.]
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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Cultural Dictionary

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.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

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)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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