English Online Dictionary. What means synthetic? What does synthetic mean?
English
Etymology
From French synthétique, from Ancient Greek συνθετικός (sunthetikós); Equivalent to synthesis + -ic (suffix formation of -tic).
Pronunciation
- enPR: sĭnthĕt'ĭk, IPA(key): /sɪnˈθɛtɪk/
Adjective
synthetic (comparative more synthetic, superlative most synthetic)
- Of, or relating to synthesis.
- (chemistry) Produced by synthesis instead of being isolated from a natural source (but may be identical to a product so obtained).
- (medicine) Produced by synthesis, thought to have the same effect as its natural counterpart, but chemically different from it.
- Artificial, not genuine.
- (grammar) Pertaining to the joining of bound morphemes in a word (compare analytic).
- (linguistics) Of a language, having a grammar principally dependent on the use of bound morphemes to indicate syntactic relationships (compare analytic).
Usage notes
- (Bio-)chemicals can be produced synthetically, but be chemically indistinguishable from to their counterparts found in nature. However, especially in medical contexts, synthetic is most often meant to denote molecules (active ingredients in drugs) that are chemically different from the natural substance on which they are based.
- Folic acid is the synthetic form of vitamin B9 (L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate).
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
synthetic (plural synthetics)
- A synthetic compound.