What does "metachronism" mean?

An error in chronological ordering in which a character or an event is placed at too late a time.

What is a synonym for "metachronism"?

Common synonyms include: anachronism, anticipation, earliness, lateness, misdate, tardiness.

Pronounced //məˈtækɹənɪz(ə)m//.

//məˈtækɹənɪz(ə)m// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
An error in chronological ordering in which a character or an event is placed at too late a time.

From Ancient Greek μετά (metá, “after, behind”) + χρόνος (khrónos, “time”) + -ism.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.