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synchronize

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Etymology and origin of the English word synchronize

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1624 J. Mede, Works More words from the 17th century
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek συγχρονίζω
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek σύγχρονος
Derivations

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsɪŋ.kɹəˌnaɪz/[1]
  • US: /ˈsɪŋ.kɹəˌnaɪz/[1]

Forms

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as borrowed from Ancient Greek συγχρονίζω (sunkhronízō, “to be contemporary”),[2][3][4][5][6] from σύγχρονος (súnkhronos, “happening at the same time”),[2][3][4] which is formed from σύν (sún, “together”) and χρόνος (khrónos, “time”).[7][4] The OED and the Shorter Oxford instead have it from English synchronism + -ize, comparing French synchroniser,[7][8] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged has it from Late Latin synchronus with the English suffix.[9] Synchronism itself is from New Latin synchronismus, from συγχρονισμός (sunkhronismós).[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To occur at the same time, to be contemporary: about 1624, in the works of J. Mede, printed in 1672.[7][3][9] Etymonline says the 1620s and Dictionary.com 1615–25.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb first meant simply to occur at the same time, or to be contemporary.[7][3] From 1806, in Lady Morgan's Wild Irish Girl, it could also be transitive, to assign events to the same date or to represent them as simultaneous;[7][3] Etymonline mentions its use for the gospels.[4] A narrower sense of keeping time, going at the same rate through successive instants, is recorded from 1867, in G. H. Lewes.[7] Clocks follow in 1879, in Prescott's Speaking Telephone, with the transitive sense of making timepieces show the same time.[7][4] Technical uses are recorded from 1910,[7] and synchronized swimming by 1950.[4] The clipped sync appears from 1929, first in phrases about film soundtracks.[4][7] A general sense "to combine, to coordinate" dates from 1973,[7] and computing took it up in 1988 for keeping data or files identical in more than one location,[7] which Collins extends to transferring files between a computer and a portable device.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1624 – intransitive, to occur at the same time, to be contemporary.[7][3][9]
  • 1806 – transitive, to assign to the same date, to represent as simultaneous.[7][3][4]
  • 1867 – intransitive, to keep time, to go at the same rate.[7]
  • 1879 – transitive, to make a timepiece show the same time as another.[7][4]
  • 1910 – in technical senses, to cause to coincide in time or to operate simultaneously.[7]
  • 1973 – to combine or coordinate.[7][8]
  • 1988 – in computing, to keep data or files identical in more than one location.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To happen, or cause to happen, at the same time or in unison: The dancers synchronized their turns with the drums.[10][9][7]
  2. To make clocks or watches show the same time; to show the same time.[10][7][8]
  3. To make devices or movements go at the same rate or operate together.[7][8]
  4. (computing) To keep data identical on two or more devices or in two or more locations; also, to transfer files between a computer and a portable device.[10][7]
  5. To present or arrange events so as to show that they happened at the same time.[9][7][8]
  6. To combine or coordinate.[7][8]

Word family

  • synchronous
  • synchronism
  • synchrony
  • synchronicity
  • anachronism
  • chronicle

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Synchronize.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/synchronize. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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