MEANING
Examining a system as it exists at a particular time rather than tracing its historical development.
Use it for
language systems at one time; period-specific institutional comparisons; analytical snapshotsDistinguish how a system works at one time from how it evolved.
Words that belong together
- synchronic analysis
- synchronic description
- synchronic perspective
On the page
The synchronic description maps the grammar used by speakers today.
A synchronic analysis of the 1930 census cannot explain every later demographic change.
The book's synchronic chapters compare institutions within the same historical period.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- synchronic
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Usage notes
Primary category: academic. Academic, especially linguistics. Synchronic is not simply simultaneous: it describes an analytical viewpoint. Use a clear time boundary. Normally non-gradable in this sense; comparison requires a specific contextual scale. Derived family (not inflections): synchrony, synchronically.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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