Concurrent

How to spell concurrent

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce concurrent

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does concurrent mean?

1. adjectiveExisting, happening, or operating at the same time.

Concurrent in a sentence

• The two projects ran on concurrent schedules throughout the spring.

• The judge ordered the two prison terms to be concurrent rather than consecutive.

Where does concurrent come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb concurrere, which literally meant 'to run together', formed from con- 'together' and currere 'to run'. In Latin the image was of things rushing toward the same point at the same moment, and the present participle concurrens gave the sense of events coinciding or agreeing. English adopted concurrent in the late 1300s and early 1400s, at first carrying ideas of meeting, cooperating, or happening simultaneously. The Latin root currere is the same one that runs through 'current', 'occur', 'cursor', and 'courier', all of which keep that core notion of running or flowing. The double r in the middle is exactly the spelling trap: it comes straight from currere, so picturing the 'curr' run can help fix it in memory.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• curr (run, from Latin currere 'to run')
• -ent (adjective suffix)