Synoptists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term used to describe the authors of the first three Gospels in the New Testament, who provide similar narratives of Jesus's life and teachings
2. Referring to those Evangelists—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—whose accounts can be compared for their similarities and differences
3. Characterizing the writers whose works are often analyzed together for the purpose of understanding the shared perspective on the events in Jesus's life

Etymology: "Synoptists" is the plural of "synoptist", which is built from "synoptic" plus the suffix "-ist", a person who holds or follows a particular view. The "synoptic" part comes from Greek "sunopsis", meaning a general view or survey, formed from "sun-" (together) and "opsis" (sight). The idea is that the first three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, can be read side by side and seen together at a glance, since they share much of their material, often in nearly the same order and wording. The "-ist" ending is what turns the adjective into a noun for the writers themselves. Scholars who study these Gospels closely are sometimes called synoptists in the same way, but the term originally refers to the evangelists whose accounts are so closely aligned.