Synchronized

How to spell synchronized

12 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce synchronized

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does synchronized mean?

1. verbMade two or more things operate or occur at exactly the same time.
2. adjectiveOperating or moving in perfect time with something else.

Synchronized in a sentence

• verb

  The engineers synchronized the traffic lights along the main road.

• adjective

  The synchronized swimming routine impressed every judge at the meet.

• verb

  We synchronized our calendars so the whole team saw the same schedule.

• adjective

  Both backup servers run on synchronized clocks to avoid data conflicts.

Where does synchronized come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek sunkhronos, which combined sun, meaning 'together', with khronos, meaning 'time', to describe things happening at the same moment. Scholars adopted the Latinised form synchronus in the 1600s, and the verb 'synchronize' appeared in English by the early 1800s, originally meaning to make events agree in time. The same khronos root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'chronology', 'chronic', and 'anachronism', all of which keep the tell-tale 'chron' spelled with a 'ch' that is pronounced like a hard 'k'. That 'ch' is the heart of the spelling trap: the sound is 'k' but the letters are 'ch', a direct inheritance from Greek. The 'y' in 'syn' is likewise Greek, standing where many writers expect an 'i'. The spelling 'synchronized' with a 'z' follows the Greek-derived -ize ending, which is the recommended form in American and Canadian usage and is equally accepted in British (Oxford) usage.

How the word is built

• syn- (together)
• chron (from Greek khronos: time)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix)
• -ed (past tense/participle)

British and American spelling

Synchronized is the American spelling. British English spells it synchronised.