syntax
noun
syn·tax
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Definition of syntax
1a
: the way in which linguistic elements (such as words) are put together to form constituents (such as phrases or clauses)
b
: the part of grammar dealing with this
2
: a connected or orderly system : harmonious arrangement of parts or elements
the syntax of classical architecture
3
: syntactics especially as dealing with the formal properties of languages or calculi
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Examples of syntax in a Sentence
Everyone has good days and bad days. Her syntax is sometimes a world unto itself. But George H.W. Bush occasionally sounded as though English were more foe than friend, and he was an astute president who managed complexity with skill and balance.
— Jon Meacham, Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2008
Coming from a great distance and wholly unrelated to the Teutonic, Latin and Slav languages that fence it in, Hungarian has remained miraculously intact. Everything about the language is different, not only the words themselves, but the way they are formed, the syntax and grammar and above all the cast of mind that brought them into being.
— Patrick Leigh Fermor, Between the Woods and the Water, 1986
âI saw that she a cookie ateâ is an example of incorrect syntax.
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Recent Examples on the Web
The platform needed the capacity of a traditional software language like C++ and the logical syntax and structure of proof-assistant programs like Isabelle and Coq, which mathematicians have been using for years. — Quanta Magazine, "Cryptography That Canât Be Hacked," 2 Apr. 2019 Satoshi is widely believed to have been a native English speaker from a British commonwealth countryâgiven his usage and spellings of words like colourâbut also occasionally (and inexplicably) employed American syntax. — Evan Ratliff, WIRED, "Was Bitcoin Created by This International Drug Dealer? Maybe!," 16 July 2019 Most of the changes seems to be small edits for clarity, preserving much of Shakespeareâs complex syntax and most of the famous lines intact. — Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News, "Review: âMacbethâ in SF gets stunning update, with mixed results," 19 July 2019 Negotiating the complex syntax seems to distract his attention from any number of errors. — Tim Parks, Harper's magazine, "Behind the High Walls," 10 Feb. 2019 Rachel Cusk has long been one of the finest and most invigorating stylists writing in English, graced with scientific precision, meticulous syntax, and a viperous wit. — Valeria Luiselli, The New York Review of Books, "Claire Messud," 21 Mar. 2019 But their brains are not equipped to follow our syntax. — Brian Resnick, Vox, "What humpback whales can teach us about alien languages," 6 Dec. 2018 And thus, this was an evening of transcending syntax in the effort to make the inaccessible accessible. — Mark Swed, latimes.com, "The voices of Angela Davis and Lech Walesa, via piano," 28 Mar. 2018 Mencken set out to describe and account for the differences, obvious and subtle, between English and American vocabulary, pronunciation, syntax, intonation, idiom, grammar, slang, euphemism and much more. — Joseph Epstein, WSJ, "We All Speak American," 10 Aug. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'syntax.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for syntax
syntax
noun
English Language Learners Definition of syntax
linguistics
: the way in which words are put together to form phrases, clauses, or sentences
See the full definition for syntax in the English Language Learners Dictionary
syntax
noun
syn·tax
| \ Ësin-Ëtaks
\
\
Kids Definition of syntax
: the way in which words are put together to form phrases, clauses, or sentences
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