Synagogue

How to spell synagogue

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce synagogue

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does synagogue mean?

1. nounA building where a Jewish congregation meets for worship and religious study.

Synagogue in a sentence

• The family walked to the synagogue every Saturday morning.

• The new synagogue was built on the corner of the high street.

Where does synagogue come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word comes from the Greek synagoge, which meant 'a gathering' or 'an assembly', formed from syn- meaning 'together' and agein meaning 'to lead' or 'to bring'. The literal sense was therefore 'a bringing together', and it could describe any meeting before it narrowed to the religious context. Greek-speaking Jews used the term for the congregation and then for the building where they assembled, and this usage passed into Latin as synagoga and into Old French as sinagoge. English borrowed it in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and over time the spelling was pulled back toward its Greek roots, restoring the y and the doubled -gue ending. That same -agogue element survives in 'demagogue' (a leader of the people) and 'pedagogue' (one who leads children, a teacher), so remembering those relatives helps fix the unusual - gogue ending in writing.

How the word is built

• syn- (together)
• -agogue (from Greek agogos: leading, bringing, from agein 'to lead'): literally a place of leading or bringing people together