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 loss of whitebark and the rapid increase in human-killed grizzlies are synchronous.

From The Daily Beast

None of the reforms passed in the wake of the financial crisis create any breakers against synchronous global financial panic.

From The Daily Beast

There are no real, long-term safe havens that are immune to synchronous shocks.

From The Daily Beast

They occur, however, either in 'synchronous' or in 'successive' order.

From Project Gutenberg

This corresponds to synchronous and successive associations.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet synchronous with this the man of ideas and ideals that he kept to himself however; that he divulged to no one.

From Project Gutenberg

M. Chappe, the inventor of the semaphore, tried about the year 1790 to introduce a synchronous electric telegraph, and failed.

From Project Gutenberg

He had to devise his own governors for the synchronous mechanism, and here his knowledge of acoustics helped him.

From Project Gutenberg