The word "synergy" originates from the Greek words "syn" (together) and "ergon" (work). Historically, it has referred to combined action or operation.
Early Usage
Its earliest recorded uses are found in religious texts. The Greek word "synergoi" appeared in New Testament books, translated as "fellow workers." In the 1600s, "synergism" was used in Christian theological debates concerning whether salvation resulted from God's grace, man's will, or a combination of both.
In the 1840s, the word entered medical terminology, with physician Friedrich Gustav Jacob Henle using it to describe organs working together to produce a positive effect. By the 1800s, it also appeared in toxicology to describe compounds producing a more powerful effect when combined than when separate.
By the mid-20th century, "synergy" was adopted in scientific and philosophical contexts. Psychologist Raymond Cattell discussed synergy in groups, defining it as the "total interest strength which goes into the activity and life of a group" in his 1957 book Personality and Motivation Structure and Measurement. Public intellectual Buckminster Fuller also explored the concept in his 1970s work Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking.
Corporate Adoption
Igor Ansoff, a business management theorist, dedicated a chapter to synergy in his 1965 book Corporate Strategy. He described it as the "2 + 2 = 5" effect, representing a combined business performance greater than the sum of its individual parts.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the term became a prevalent corporate buzzword, especially amid business mergers and acquisitions, to suggest that entities were "better together." Sociolinguist Erica Brozovsky notes that its overuse in business has led to a loss of clear meaning. Douglas Harper, founder of Etymonline.com, suggests that despite its appealing sound, many people struggle to define what they mean by "synergy."