From WordNet (r) 1.6 [wn]:

  synthesis
       n 1: the process of producing a chemical compound (usually by the
            union of simpler chemical compounds)
       2: the combination of ideas into a complex whole [syn: {synthetic
          thinking}] [ant: {analysis}]
       3: reasoning from the general to the particular (or from cause
          to effect) [syn: {deduction}, {deductive reasoning}]