Synchronization

How to spell synchronization

15 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce synchronization

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does synchronization mean?

1. nounThe act of making two or more things operate or happen at exactly the same time, or of keeping data consistent across devices.

Synchronization in a sentence

• The engineers checked the synchronization of the two production lines before the shift began.

• Automatic synchronization keeps the same calendar entries on her phone and laptop.

Where does synchronization come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek khronos, meaning 'time', combined with the prefix syn-, meaning 'together' or 'with'. The Greek adjective synchronos described things that happen at the same time, literally 'together in time'. Scholars adopted it into Latin as synchronus, and English took the adjective 'synchronous' in the seventeenth century for events occurring simultaneously. The verb 'synchronize' followed, and 'synchronization' was coined as the noun naming the act of making things agree in time, becoming common with the rise of clocks, film, and machinery in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The same khronos root underpins familiar relatives like 'chronicle', 'chronology', and 'chronic', and remembering that hidden 'chron' (with its silent-looking 'ch') is the key to spelling the middle of the word correctly.

How the word is built

• syn- (together)
• chron (from Greek khronos: time)
• -ize (verb suffix)
• -ation (noun of action)

British and American spelling

Synchronization is the American spelling. British English spells it synchronisation.