synesis

[ sin-uh-sis ]
/ ˈsɪn ə sɪs /

noun Grammar.

a construction in which an expected grammatical agreement in form is replaced by an agreement in meaning, as in The crowd rose to their feet, where a plural pronoun is used to refer to a singular noun.

Origin of synesis

1890–95; < New Latin < Greek sýnesis understanding, intelligence, equivalent to syn- syn- + ( h)e- (stem of hiénai to throw, send) + -sis -sis

Example sentences from the Web for synesis

British Dictionary definitions for synesis

synesis
/ (ˈsɪnɪsɪs) /

noun

a grammatical construction in which the inflection or form of a word is conditioned by the meaning rather than the syntax, as for example the plural form have with the singular noun group in the sentence the group have already assembled

Word Origin for synesis

via New Latin from Greek sunesis union, from sunienai to bring together, from syn- + hienai to send