synopsis

See also: Synopsis

English

WOTD – 14 August 2007

Etymology

From Late Latin synopsis, itself from Ancient Greek σύνοψις (súnopsis), from σύν (sún, “with or whole”) + ὄψις (ópsis, “view”) meaning whole view.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɪˈnɒpsɪs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /sɪˈnɑpsɪs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

synopsis (plural synopses)

1. (authorship) A brief summary of the major points of a written work, either as prose or as a table; an abridgment or condensation of a work.
   • 1869, Edward Drinker Cope, Synopsis of the Extinct Batrachia and Reptilia of North America. Part I.:

     The following Synopsis is intended as a monograph of those species of the order hitherto discovered…

   • 1914, Chandler B. Beach, Frank Morton McMurry (eds.), The New Student’s Reference Work:

     In the following synopsis of the history of the United States the principal events are briefly mentioned…

   • 1971, Earl W. Stevick, Adapting and Writing Language Lessons/Appendix M:

     A Synopsis, on the other hand, should be short enough and general enough so that a person who has not yet begun to study the language can follow it…

2. A reference work containing brief articles that taken together give an overview of an entire field.
3. (Orthodoxy) A prayer book for use by the laity of the church.

Synonyms

• (brief summary): abridgment, abstract, conspectus, outline, overview, summary

Related terms

• synoptic
• synoptical
• synoptically
• synoptist

Translations

brief summary

• Afrikaans: sinopsis
• Albanian: konspekt (sq)
• Arabic: مُلَخَّص m (mulaḵḵaṣ)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: агля́д m (ahljád), рэзюмэ́ n (rezjumé)
• Bulgarian: обзо́р (bg) m (obzór), резюме́ (bg) n (rezjumé)
• Catalan: sinopsi f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 概要 (zh) (gàiyào), 提要 (zh) (tíyào), 摘要 (zh) (zhāiyào)

• Czech: přehled (cs) m, synopse (cs) f
• Danish: synopse (da) c, synopsis (da) c
• Dutch: samenvatting (nl) f, synopsis (nl) f
• Esperanto: resumo, sinoptiko
• Estonian: kokkuvõte
• Finnish: tiivistelmä (fi), yhteenveto (fi), synopsis (fi)
• French: abrégé (fr) m, précis (fr) m, résumé (fr) m
• Galician: resumo m, sinopse (gl) f
• Georgian: მიმოხილვა (mimoxilva)
• German: Synopse (de) f, Übersicht (de) f, Zusammenfassung (de) f
• Greek: σύνοψη (el) f (sýnopsi), περίληψη (el) f (perílipsi)

  Ancient: σύνοψις f (súnopsis)

• Hebrew: תַּקְצִיר m (taktsír)
• Hindi: सार (hi) m (sār)
• Hungarian: összefoglalás (hu), összegzés (hu), áttekintés (hu), összefoglaló (hu)
• Indonesian: sinopsis (id), sari kata
• Irish: achoimre (ga) f, achoimriú m
• Italian: sinossi (it) f
• Japanese: 大意 (ja) (たいい, taii), 梗概 (ja) (こうがい, kōgai), 概要 (ja) (がいよう, gaiyō), あらすじ (ja) (arasuji)
• Korean: 대위(大意) (ko) (daewi), 경개(梗槪) (ko) (gyeonggae), 개요(槪要) (gaeyo)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: whakarāpopoto
• Polish: streszczenie (pl) m
• Portuguese: resumo (pt) m
• Romanian: sinopsis (ro) n
• Russian: кра́ткое описа́ние n (krátkoje opisánije), кра́ткий обзо́р m (krátkij obzór), сино́псис (ru) m (sinópsis), конспе́кт (ru) m (konspékt), обозре́ние (ru) n (obozrénije), резюме́ (ru) n (rezjumɛ́)
• Scottish Gaelic: giorrachadh (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сино̀псис m, саже́так m

  Roman: sinòpsis (sh) m, sažétak (sh) m

• Slovak: prehľad m, synopsa f
• Spanish: resumen (es) m, sumario (es) m, sinopsis (es) f
• Swedish: sammanfattning (sv) c, synopsis (sv) c, sammandrag (sv) n
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: özet (tr)
• Ukrainian: о́гляд (uk) m (óhljad), резюме́ n (rezjumé), сино́псис m (synópsys)
• Vietnamese: tóm tắt (vi)
• Welsh: crynodeb (cy)

See also

• bird's-eye view

Further reading

• “synopsis”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “synopsis”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Finnish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin synopsis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsynopsis/, [ˈs̠yno̞ps̠is̠]
• Rhymes: -ynopsis
• Syllabification^(key): sy‧nop‧sis
• Hyphenation^(key): sy‧nop‧sis

Noun

synopsis

1. synopsis

Declension

Inflection of synopsis (Kotus type 39/vastaus, no gradation)
nominative		synopsis	synopsikset
genitive		synopsiksen	synopsisten synopsiksien
partitive		synopsista	synopsiksia
illative		synopsikseen	synopsiksiin
		singular	plural
nominative		synopsis	synopsikset
accusative	nom.	synopsis	synopsikset
	gen.	synopsiksen
genitive		synopsiksen	synopsisten synopsiksien
partitive		synopsista	synopsiksia
inessive		synopsiksessa	synopsiksissa
elative		synopsiksesta	synopsiksista
illative		synopsikseen	synopsiksiin
adessive		synopsiksella	synopsiksilla
ablative		synopsikselta	synopsiksilta
allative		synopsikselle	synopsiksille
essive		synopsiksena	synopsiksina
translative		synopsikseksi	synopsiksiksi
abessive		synopsiksetta	synopsiksitta
instructive		—	synopsiksin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of synopsis (Kotus type 39/vastaus, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative synopsikseni synopsikseni accusative nom. synopsikseni synopsikseni gen. synopsikseni genitive synopsikseni synopsisteni synopsiksieni partitive synopsistani synopsiksiani inessive synopsiksessani synopsiksissani elative synopsiksestani synopsiksistani illative synopsikseeni synopsiksiini adessive synopsiksellani synopsiksillani ablative synopsikseltani synopsiksiltani allative synopsikselleni synopsiksilleni essive synopsiksenani synopsiksinani translative synopsiksekseni synopsiksikseni abessive synopsiksettani synopsiksittani instructive — — comitative — synopsiksineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative synopsiksesi synopsiksesi accusative nom. synopsiksesi synopsiksesi gen. synopsiksesi genitive synopsiksesi synopsistesi synopsiksiesi partitive synopsistasi synopsiksiasi inessive synopsiksessasi synopsiksissasi elative synopsiksestasi synopsiksistasi illative synopsikseesi synopsiksiisi adessive synopsiksellasi synopsiksillasi ablative synopsikseltasi synopsiksiltasi allative synopsiksellesi synopsiksillesi essive synopsiksenasi synopsiksinasi translative synopsikseksesi synopsiksiksesi abessive synopsiksettasi synopsiksittasi instructive — — comitative — synopsiksinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative synopsiksemme synopsiksemme accusative nom. synopsiksemme synopsiksemme gen. synopsiksemme genitive synopsiksemme synopsistemme synopsiksiemme partitive synopsistamme synopsiksiamme inessive synopsiksessamme synopsiksissamme elative synopsiksestamme synopsiksistamme illative synopsikseemme synopsiksiimme adessive synopsiksellamme synopsiksillamme ablative synopsikseltamme synopsiksiltamme allative synopsiksellemme synopsiksillemme essive synopsiksenamme synopsiksinamme translative synopsikseksemme synopsiksiksemme abessive synopsiksettamme synopsiksittamme instructive — — comitative — synopsiksinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative synopsiksenne synopsiksenne accusative nom. synopsiksenne synopsiksenne gen. synopsiksenne genitive synopsiksenne synopsistenne synopsiksienne partitive synopsistanne synopsiksianne inessive synopsiksessanne synopsiksissanne elative synopsiksestanne synopsiksistanne illative synopsikseenne synopsiksiinne adessive synopsiksellanne synopsiksillanne ablative synopsikseltanne synopsiksiltanne allative synopsiksellenne synopsiksillenne essive synopsiksenanne synopsiksinanne translative synopsikseksenne synopsiksiksenne abessive synopsiksettanne synopsiksittanne instructive — — comitative — synopsiksinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative synopsiksensa synopsiksensa accusative nom. synopsiksensa synopsiksensa gen. synopsiksensa genitive synopsiksensa synopsistensa synopsiksiensa partitive synopsistaan synopsistansa synopsiksiaan synopsiksiansa inessive synopsiksessaan synopsiksessansa synopsiksissaan synopsiksissansa elative synopsiksestaan synopsiksestansa synopsiksistaan synopsiksistansa illative synopsikseensa synopsiksiinsa adessive synopsiksellaan synopsiksellansa synopsiksillaan synopsiksillansa ablative synopsikseltaan synopsikseltansa synopsiksiltaan synopsiksiltansa allative synopsikselleen synopsiksellensa synopsiksilleen synopsiksillensa essive synopsiksenaan synopsiksenansa synopsiksinaan synopsiksinansa translative synopsiksekseen synopsikseksensa synopsiksikseen synopsiksiksensa abessive synopsiksettaan synopsiksettansa synopsiksittaan synopsiksittansa instructive — — comitative — synopsiksineen synopsiksinensa

Synonyms

• tiivistelmä

Further reading

• “synopsis”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /si.nɔp.sis/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

synopsis m or f (invariable)

1. a general overview or synoptic table of a topic
2. (media) Plot summary of a movie

Further reading

• “synopsis”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σῠ́νοψῐς (sŭ́nopsĭs, “shared view; estimate”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [syˈnɔp.sɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [siˈnɔp.sis]

Noun

synopsis f (genitive synopsis or synopseōs or synopsios); third declension

1. list
2. synopsis, overview

Declension

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	synopsis	synopsēs synopseis
genitive	synopsis synopseōs synopsios	synopsium
dative	synopsī	synopsibus
accusative	synopsim synopsin synopsem1	synopsēs synopsīs
ablative	synopsī synopse1	synopsibus
vocative	synopsis synopsi	synopsēs synopseis

¹Found sometimes in Medieval and New Latin.

Descendants

• Catalan: sinopsi
• English: synopsis
• French: synopsis
• Italian: sinossi
• Spanish: sinopsis
• Portuguese: sinopse

References

• “synopsis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “synopsis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Swedish

Noun

synopsis c (indeclinable)

1. synonym of synops (“synopsis”)

References

• synopsis in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• synopsis in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• synopsis in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)