Standard Lemma guide

synergy

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈsɪnəd͡ʒi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: sĭnʹər-jē
  • US: /ˈsɪnəɹd͡ʒi/
  • rhymes with -ɪnə(ɹ)d͡ʒi
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH1 N ER0 JH IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A synonym of binding energy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: mathematics, sciences, systems-theory

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The cooperation of two or more nerves, muscles, organs, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, physiology, sciences

Examples

  • the digestive synergy

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The combined action of two or more drugs where the effects are stronger than their mere sum.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: medicine, pharmacology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Benefits resulting from combining different groups, people, objects or processes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, figuratively, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

the working together of two things (muscles or drugs for example) to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: synergism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: natural process, natural action, action, activity

Narrower terms: potentiation

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek συνεργία (sunergía, “cooperation”), from σύν (sún, “with, together”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work”). By surface analysis, syn- + -ergy.

Across languages

Translations

60 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: sinergie — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Bulgarian: синергия (sinergija) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Catalan: sinergia — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Chinese Mandarin: 協同效應 /协同效应 (xiétóng xiàoyìng) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Danish: synergi — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Dutch: synergie — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Esperanto: sinergio — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Finnish: synergia — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • French: synergie — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • German: Synergie — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Hungarian: szinergia — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Italian: sinergia — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Japanese: 相乗効果 (sōjō kōka) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Japanese: シナジー (shinajī) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Korean: 상승효과 (sangseunghyogwa) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Korean: 시너지 (sineoji) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Latin: synergia — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Macedonian: синергија (sinergija) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Macedonian: еднодејствие (ednodejstvie) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Norwegian: synergi — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Norwegian Bokmål: synergi — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: synergi — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Portuguese: sinergia — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Romanian: sinergie — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Russian: синерги́я (sinɛrgíja) — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Slovak: synergia — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Spanish: sinergia — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Swedish: synergi — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Swedish: synergieffekt — behavior of a system that cannot be predicted by the behavior of its parts
  • Arabic: تَعَاضُد (taʕāḍud) — medicine: combined action
  • Catalan: sinergia — medicine: combined action
  • Dutch: synergie — medicine: combined action
  • Finnish: yhteisvaikutus — medicine: combined action
  • French: synergie — medicine: combined action
  • Greek: συνεργία (synergía) — medicine: combined action
  • Icelandic: samvirkni — medicine: combined action
  • Indonesian: sinergi — medicine: combined action
  • Catalan: sinergia — pharmacology: interaction between drugs
  • Finnish: yhteisvaikutus — pharmacology: interaction between drugs
  • Finnish: synergismi — pharmacology: interaction between drugs
  • German: Synergie — pharmacology: interaction between drugs
  • Indonesian: sinergi — pharmacology: interaction between drugs
  • Arabic: تَعَاضُد (taʕāḍud) — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Bulgarian: синергия (sinergija) — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Catalan: sinergia — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Dutch: synergie — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Finnish: synergia — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • French: synergie — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • German: Synergie — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • German: Zusammenwirken — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • German: gegenseitige Verstärkung — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Greek: συνεργία (synergía) — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Greek: σύμπραξη (sýmpraxi) — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Indonesian: sinergi — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Italian: sinergia — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Japanese: 相乗効果 (sōjōkōka) — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Japanese: シナジー (shinajī) — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Korean: 상승효과 (sangseunghyogwa) — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Korean: 시너지 (sineoji) — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes
  • Latin: synergia — benefits from combining different groups, people, objects or processes