Word
synchronous
Phoneticssyn·chro·nous
US/ˈsɪŋkɹənəs/
UK/sˈɪnkɹənəs/
Definitions
01happening at the same time
adj. happening, existing, or moving at exactly the same time or speed.
adj. occurring, existing, or operating at the same time or rate. Often used in physics or engineering to describe waves or mechanical parts.
“The dancers moved in synchronous motion, perfectly matching each other's steps.”
“The synchronous rotation of the moon ensures that the same side always faces the Earth as it completes its orbit.”
Academic · Technical
Usage
Usually placed before the noun or after a linking verb like 'be'.
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Antonyms
02computing/blocking
adj. a way of running computer tasks where one thing must finish before the next one can start.
adj. referring to a process that blocks other operations until it completes; execution occurs in a sequential, predictable time-step.
“The program felt slow because it was using a synchronous connection to the database.”
“In a synchronous execution model, the main thread is blocked until the function returns, potentially causing the user interface to freeze during long operations.”
Technical
Usage
Commonly used to describe functions, calls, or communication protocols.
Teaching tip
In modern software development, this is often contrasted with 'asynchronous' (async) programming which allows multiple tasks to run at once.
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Antonyms
Real-World Examples
“The prehistoric ritual of ecstatic, synchronous dancing is being quietly eroded, and the modern mind is paying for it.” “By contrast, he sees a world model as a synchronous, real-time system.” 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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englishreference.com/q/synchronous