Standard Lemma guide

diachrony

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /daɪˈækɹəni/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The study of change over time, especially changes to language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the study of linguistic change

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the synchrony and diachrony of language

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: historical linguistics, diachronic linguistics

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: linguistics

History

Etymology

By surface analysis, dia- + chron- + -y; historically, see synchronous § Etymology.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: diakroni — study of change
  • Bashkir: диахрония (diaxroniya) — study of change
  • Bulgarian: диахрония (diahronija) — study of change
  • Catalan: diacronia — study of change
  • Chinese Mandarin: 歷時性 /历时性 (líshíxìng) — study of change
  • Finnish: diakronia — study of change
  • French: diachronie — study of change
  • Italian: diacronia — study of change
  • Japanese: 通時態 (tsūjitai) — study of change
  • Kazakh: диахрония (diaxroniä) — study of change
  • Korean: 통시태 (tongsitae) — study of change
  • Kyrgyz: диахрония (diahroniya) — study of change
  • Latin: diachronia — study of change
  • Persian: درزمانی — study of change
  • Polish: diachronia — study of change
  • Polish: diachroniczność — study of change
  • Portuguese: diacronia — study of change
  • Spanish: diacronía — study of change
  • Uzbek: diaxroniya — study of change
  • Uzbek: tarixiy tadrijiylik — study of change