Synchronic

//sɪŋˈkɹɑnɪk// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Occurring at a specific point in time. not-comparable
  2. 2
    Relating to the study of a language at only one point in its history. not-comparable

    "The three texts that contain a more modern selection of lexis, Sengupta, Nihalani et al, and Mahal, being entirely synchronic, also suffer from a lack of historical perspective."

Adjective
  1. 1
    concerned with phenomena (especially language) at a particular period without considering historical antecedents wordnet
  2. 2
    occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase wordnet
  3. 3
    (of taxa) occurring in the same period of geological time wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
coevalcoexistentconcurrentcontemporaneouscontemporaryin step

Example

More examples

"If you like Japanese history and linguistics, maybe read the dissertation "Tense and Aspect in Old Japanese: Synchronic, Diachronic, and Typological Perspectives.""

Etymology

By surface analysis, syn- + chron- + -ic; historically, see synchronous § Etymology.

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