Synod is the exact translation of the Greek noun synodos. It is interesting to collect the elements from which the word is formed: syn, as an adverb means "whole, all together, at the same time", and as a preposition it can be translated "with, by means of". The noun synodos, indicates gathering, assembly, and also fellow traveler. The syn is composed with hodos, "way, route, guide" (it is feminine in Greek); from there it is also formed méthodos, method. Historically, in Christian antiquity the synod was called the convocation, and the meeting of the bishops, according to the ecclesiastical provinces, each presided over by the Metropolitan; which meet in assembly to deal with matters of utmost importance, define doctrines, and condemn and refute heresies, warning of the heterogeneity of those errors, in contradiction with respect to the didache, whose foundation is found in the apostolic beginnings. Two main features to keep in mind: the protagonists are always bishops, successors of the Apostles of Jesus, and the duration is determined in time, it does not extend excessively.
The name synod has remained to signify only those designated meetings, that is, an exclusively theological, ecclesiastical use. The history of the Church offers numerous testimonies of the interchange between synod and council, a name that comes from Latin, as we shall see below.
