catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  synod
     n.
     1 An ecclesiastic council or meeting to consult on church matters.
     2 An administrative division of churches, either the entire
  denomination, as in the (w: Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod), or a
  mid-level division ((w: middle judicatory), district) as in the (w:
  Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
     3 An assembly or council having civil authority; a legislative body.
     4 (lb en astronomy) A conjunction of two or more of the heavenly
  body.
     Polish n.
     (lb pl Eastern Orthodoxy Protestantism Roman Catholicism) (l en
  synod) (gl: ecclesiastic council or meeting)