“Synergism” sounds like it could be a corporate buzzword; synonyms include “collaboration,” “cooperation,” “coordination,” “teamwork,” and, naturally, “synergy.” It’s a way to say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but to truly be considered synergism, those parts must have some sort of interaction that improves the end result. The word comes from the Latin “synergia,” meaning “cooperation,” and the Greek “sunergos,” meaning “working together,” with “sun-” meaning “together” and “ergon” meaning “work.”