Hypertext Webster Gateway: "synthetic"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Synthetic \Syn*thet"ic\, Synthetical \Syn*thet"ic*al\, a. [Gr.
?: cf. F. synth['e]tique.]
1. Of or pertaining to synthesis; consisting in synthesis or
composition; as, the synthetic method of reasoning, as
opposed to analytical.
Philosophers hasten too much from the analytic to
the synthetic method; that is, they draw general
conclusions from too small a number of particular
observations and experiments. --Bolingbroke.
2. (Chem.) Artificial. Cf. {Synthesis}, 2.
3. (Zo["o]l.) Comprising within itself structural or other
characters which are usually found only in two or more
diverse groups; -- said of species, genera, and higher
groups. See the Note under {Comprehensive}, 3.
{Synthetic}, or {Synthetical language}, an inflectional
language, or one characterized by grammatical endings; --
opposed to {analytic language}. --R. Morris.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
synthetic
adj 1: (chemistry) not of natural origin; prepared or made
artificially; "man-made fibers"; "synthetic leather"
[syn: {man-made}, {semisynthetic}]
2: involving or of the nature of synthesis (combining separate
elements to form a coherent whole) as opposed to analysis;
"limnology is essentially a synthetic science composed of
elements...that extend well beyond the limits of biology"-
P.S.Welch [syn: {synthetical}] [ant: {analytic}]
3: (linguistics) systematic combining of root and modifying
elements into single words [ant: {analytic}]
4: (logic) of a proposition; having a truth value determined by
observation or facts, as "all men are arrogant" [syn: {synthetical}]
[ant: {analytic}]
5: artificial as if portrayed in a film; "a novel with flat
celluloid characters" [syn: {celluloid}]
6: not genuine or natural; "counterfeit rhetoric that
flourishes when passions are synthetic"- George Will
n : a compound made artificially by chemical reactions
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