English
synchronous
Synchronous comes from Late Latin synchronus ‘contemporary, synchronic’, and goes back to Ancient Greek χρόνος ‘time’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχρόνοςkhrónos‘time’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσύγχρονοςsúnkhronos‘contemporaneous’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsynchronus‘contemporary, synchronic’
- Englishearliest quotation 1909synchronous
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχρόνοςkhrónos‘time’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσύγχρονοςsúnkhronos‘contemporaneous’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsynchronus‘contemporary, synchronic’
- Englishearliest quotation 1909synchronous
Earliest quotation: 1909, Adolf Paul Oppé, Raphael: “But in these pictures it was possible for all…”
The story
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.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- ‘to seize, enclose’
girl, card, chart, rocket, cartoon, cartel, chorus, cartridge, carte, carton, cartography, urchin, germanium, cartouche, 33 more
through Proto-Indo-European *gʰr-ono-
through Ancient Greek χρόνος ‘time’
Today it means
adj At the same time, at the same frequency.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek χρόνος / synchronous