synchronous

[ sing-kruh-nuhs ]

adjective

1. occurring at the same time; coinciding in time; contemporaneous; simultaneous:

   The longest running “Turkey Trot” 5K is being held as a synchronous race in more than a dozen cities this Thanksgiving morning, and all proceeds will benefit the food bank.

2. (especially in education) occurring in real time, as with participants logged in at an appointed time for a live lecture or discussion: Synchronous telemedicine connects patients for instantaneous interactions with a medical professional.

   Lectures for this blended learning class are synchronous webinars and will not be recorded or posted for asynchronous access.

   Synchronous telemedicine connects patients for instantaneous interactions with a medical professional.

3. going on at the same rate and exactly together; recurring together.
4. Physics, Electricity. having the same frequency and zero phase difference.
5. Digital Technology. relating to or being a computer operation that must complete before another event can begin:

   The synchronous operation requires the host CPU to block subsequent activities until the current process concludes.

6. Computers, Telecommunications. of, relating to, or operating using fixed-time intervals coordinated by a clock, as in paired data transmission.
7. Aerospace. geostationary.

synchronous

/ ˈsɪŋkrənəs /

adjective

1. occurring at the same time; contemporaneous
2. physics (of periodic phenomena, such as voltages) having the same frequency and phase
3. occurring or recurring exactly together and at the same rate

   the synchronous flapping of a bird's wings

Derived Forms

• ˈsynchronousness, noun
• ˈsynchronously, adverb

Other Words From

• syn·chro·nous·ly adverb
• syn·chro·nous·ness noun
• non·syn·chro·nous adjective
• non·syn·chro·nous·ly adverb
• non·syn·chro·nous·ness noun
• un·syn·chro·nous adjective
• un·syn·chro·nous·ly adverb
• un·syn·chro·nous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of synchronous¹

First recorded in 1660–70; from Late Latin synchronus, from Greek sýnchronos, equivalent to syn- “with, together + chrón(os) “time” + -os adjective suffix; syn-, -ous

Word History and Origins

Origin of synchronous¹

C17: from Late Latin synchronus, from Greek sunkhronos, from syn- + khronos time

Example Sentences

The spread of telegraph lines during the mid-19th century presented a new possibility: Two people could have a synchronous conversation from hundreds or even thousands of miles apart.

From Slate

The size of the heat dome made it particularly troubling because it resulted in what the study authors called widespread synchronous burning, with many disparate areas igniting at the same time.

From Los Angeles Times

If this type of synchronous activity persists in future years, it could force fire managers to reevaluate the reliability of resource-sharing arrangements, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

The team analyzed nearly 50 hours of synchronous tag data which included 16 tags from seven distinct groups of whales.

From Science Daily

Now, in a paper published in the journal Physical Review E, researchers from the University of Cambridge have discovered how such synchronous cicada swarms can emerge despite these temperature differences.

From Science Daily