in europe in the middle ages and renaissance, nearly all companies, guilds, and the university of paris had representative bodies the members of which were termed "syndici". similarly in england, the regent house of the university of cambridge, which is the legislative body, delegates certain functions to special committees of its members, appointed from time to time by grace (a proposal offered to the regent house and confirmed by it); these committees are termed "syndicates" and are permanent or occasional, and the members are styled "the syndics" of the particular committee or of the institution which they administer; thus there are the syndics of the fitzwilliam museum, of the cambridge university press, of local examinations, etc.