SYNOD

noun Etymology: Middle English sinod, from Late Latin ~us, from Late Greek ~os, from Greek, meeting, assembly, from syn- + hodos way, journey Date: 14th century an ecclesiastical governing or advisory council: as, an assembly of bishops in the Roman Catholic Church, the governing assembly of an Episcopal province, a Presbyterian governing body ranking between the presbytery and the general assembly, a regional or national organization of Lutheran congregations, the ecclesiastical district governed by a ~, ~al adjective