[da_chicken]

The vast majority of people learn the definition of words by hearing them used in context repeatedly. Very few people look up the definition of words, and nobody looks up the definition of most words they know.

In this case I doubt many people have heard the word "synoptic" in any other context. That makes it a rather meaningless word.

[Suppafly]

>In this case I doubt many people have heard the word "synoptic" in any other context. That makes it a rather meaningless word.

This and that's sorta what I found interesting, most people don't realize a word they've only heard in the context of religion actually has a definition outside of, and predating, that context and that definition more or less explains the religious usage.

[da_chicken]

I know when I first heard it, my mind went to "canopic jars". Canopic is from Canopus, a name from Greek mythology. I mean, who's to say that there wasn't a guy or place named Synoptus? The Nicene Creed is named after the Council of Nicea, which took place in the city of the same name.

The fact that synopsis is a Greek word makes it even harder to discern because a lot of names and terms of early Christianity are Greek, just as much as Latin names and terms come along later. I don't think it's a religious thing at all. I think it's going to be common to anything that has a lot of terminology that is rooted in a foreign language and culture.