Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjAt the same time, at the same frequency.
adjInteracting 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.
Sentence Examples
Over the years, the Moon has fallen into a synchronous orbit with Earth.
The two machines operate in a ____ manner, always completing tasks at the same time.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The two events were ____, meaning they happened at exactly the same time, which was a very strange coincidence today.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But in these pictures it was possible for all the incidents to coexist at the one moment. In the 'Release of Peter' this was not possible. The waking and astonished soldiers to the left might be looking upon the miracle of the centre, but the escape of the Apostle over their recumbent bodies could not be synchronous with either of the other scenes"
— 1909, Adolf Paul Oppé, Raphael, London: Methuen, page 151:
"There is a synchronous tie between the motors in each machine room to ensure that the span remains level during raising and lowering."
— 1960 June 26, “New Lifting Bridge at Kings Ferry”, in Railway Magazine, page 388:
"Post is a “fire and forget” where the UI thread work is performed asynchronously; Send is synchronous in that the call blocks until the UI thread work has been performed."
— 2014, Richard Blewett, Andrew Clymer, Pro Asynchronous Programming with .NET, page 25: