synergy

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Ancient Greek συνεργία (sunergia, “joint work, assistance, help”), from συνεργός (sunergos, “working together”), from σύν (sun, “together”) + ἔργον (ergon, “work”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈsɪnədʒi/, X-SAMPA: /"sIn@dZi/
• (US) enPR: sĭnʹər-jē, IPA: /ˈsɪnɚdʒi/, X-SAMPA: /"sIn@`dZi/

Noun

synergy (plural synergies)

1. Behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts.
2. (medicine) Combined action; the combined healthy action of every organ of a particular system; as, the digestive synergy.
3. (pharmacology) An interaction between drugs where the effects are stronger than their mere sum.
4. Benefits resulting from combining two different groups, people, objects or processes.

Usage notes

• Synergy is frequently dismissed as business jargon.

Antonyms

• anergy (in economics)

Related terms

• energy

Translations

behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 協同效應 (cmn), 协同效应 (cmn) (xiétóng xiàoyìng)

• Dutch: synergie (nl) f
• Esperanto: sinergio (eo)
• Finnish: synergia (fi)
• French: synergie (fr) f

• German: Synergie (de) f
• Hungarian: szinergia (hu)
• Japanese: 相乗効果 (ja) (そうじょうこうか, sōjō kōka), シナジー (ja) (shinajī)
• Norwegian: synergi (no)
• Portuguese: sinergia (pt) f
• Russian: синергия (ru) (sinɛrgíja) f
• Swedish: synergi (sv) c, synergieffekt (sv) c

medicine: combined action

• Dutch: synergie (nl) f
• Finnish: yhteisvaikutus

• Greek: συνεργία (el) (synergía) f
• Icelandic: samvirkni (is) f

result of combining two different groups, people, objects or processes

• Dutch: synergie (nl) f
• Finnish: synergia (fi)
• German: Synergie (de) f

• Greek: συνεργία (el) (synergía) f, σύμπραξη (el) (sýmpraksi) f
• Japanese: 相乗効果 (そうじょうこうか, sōjōkōka), シナジー (shinajī)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: sinergia f
• French: synergie (fr) f
• German: Synergie f

• Lithuanian: sinergija f
• Spanish: sinergía f
• Swedish: synergi c

External links

• synergy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• synergy in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911