adj · 4 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
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:S IH1 NG K R AH0 N AH0 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
At the same time, at the same frequency.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: simultaneous, in phase, in sync, in step, synchronised, nonasynchronous, metachronous
Antonyms: asynchronous, antisynchronous
2
adj
Meaning 2
Interacting with other elements in series; blocking; interacting with the same program or thread as other operations, thereby preventing those operations from resuming until the operation of interest is complete.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: blocking, modal
Antonyms: asynchronous
3
adjective
Meaning 3
occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase- Jour.A.M.A.
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
recovery was synchronous with therapy
a synchronous set of clocks
the synchronous action of a bird's wings in flight
synchronous oscillations
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: synchronal, synchronic
Antonyms: asynchronous
4
adjective
Meaning 4
(digital communication) pertaining to a transmission technique that requires a common clock signal (a timing reference) between the communicating devices in order to coordinate their transmissions
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: asynchronous
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin synchronus, from Ancient Greek σύγχρονος (súnkhronos, “contemporaneous”), from σῠν- (sŭn-, “with, together”) + χρόνος (khrónos, “time”). By surface analysis, syn- + chron- + -ous = synchrony + -ous; however, all related words (e.g., synchronic, synchrony, synchronicity, diachronous, diachronic, diachrony, diachronicity) were coined later, either as back-formations from, or otherwise by analogy with the surface analysis of, synchronous.
Across languages
Translations
36 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Belarusian:
сінхро́нны
(sinxrónny)
— at the same time
Bulgarian:
синхронен
(sinhronen)
— at the same time
Bulgarian:
едновременен
(ednovremenen)
— at the same time
Chinese Mandarin:
同時的 /同时的
(tóngshí de)
— at the same time
Chinese Mandarin:
同步的
(tóngbù de)
— at the same time
Czech:
synchronní
— at the same time
Danish:
synkron
— at the same time
Dutch:
synchroon
— at the same time
Finnish:
synkroninen
— at the same time
Finnish:
samanaikainen
— at the same time
French:
synchrone
— at the same time
German:
synchron
— at the same time
Greek:
σύγχρονος
(sýnchronos)
— at the same time
Hungarian:
szinkrón
— at the same time
Hungarian:
egyidejű
— at the same time
Icelandic:
samstilltur
— at the same time
Indonesian:
sinkron
— at the same time
Italian:
sincrono
— at the same time
Kazakh:
синхронды
(sinxrondy)
— at the same time
Kazakh:
синхрондық
(sinxrondyq)
— at the same time
Kazakh:
синхронизмді
(sinxronizmdı)
— at the same time
Kazakh:
ілеспе
(ılespe)
— at the same time
Māori:
tukutahi
— at the same time
Māori:
tautokorua
— at the same time
Norwegian Bokmål:
synkron
— at the same time
Norwegian Nynorsk:
synkron
— at the same time
Persian:
همگام
(hamgâm)
— at the same time
Persian:
همزمان
(hamzamān)
— at the same time
Portuguese:
síncrono
— at the same time
Romanian:
sincron
— at the same time
Romanian:
în același timp
— at the same time
Russian:
синхро́нный
(sinxrónnyj)
— at the same time
Spanish:
síncrono
— at the same time
Spanish:
sincrónico
— at the same time
Swedish:
synkron
— at the same time
Ukrainian:
синхро́нний
(synxrónnyj)
— at the same time