syn·di·cate (sĭn'dĭ-kĭt)
n.

1. An association of people or firms authorized to undertake a duty or transact specific business.
2. An association of people or firms formed to engage in an enterprise or promote a common interest.
3. A loose affiliation of gangsters in control of organized criminal activities.
4. An agency that sells articles, features, or photographs for publication in a number of newspapers or periodicals simultaneously.
5. A company consisting of a number of separate newspapers; a newspaper chain.
6. The office, position, or jurisdiction of a syndic or body of syndics.

v., -cat·ed, -cat·ing, -cates. (-kāt')

v.tr.

1. 1. To organize into or manage as a syndicate.
   2. To sell shares in.
2. To sell (a comic strip or column, for example) through a syndicate for simultaneous publication in newspapers or periodicals.
3. To sell (a television series, for example) directly to independent stations.

v.intr.
To join together in a syndicate.

[French syndicat, from Old French, office of syndic, from Medieval Latin syndicātus, from Late Latin syndicus, syndic. See syndic.]

syndication syn'di·ca'tion n.
syndicator syn'di·ca'tor n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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