What does asynchronism mean?
Asynchronism refers to the condition of events, actions, or processes not occurring at the same time or at the same rate — a lack of synchronism. The word appears most often in technical and scientific writing: engineers speak of asynchronism when electrical signals, mechanical components, or computing operations run independently rather than to a shared clock. It can also describe more general temporal mismatch, such as a soundtrack drifting out of step with a film. Carrying a formal register, asynchronism has largely been superseded by its synonym 'asynchrony' and by informal phrases like 'out of sync', yet it survives in older engineering texts and precise academic contexts. Derived from Greek roots meaning 'not' and 'time', it belongs to a family of words concerned with timing and coordination. Understanding asynchronism is useful for anyone reading technical literature or discussing systems whose parts deliberately operate on independent schedules.
nounThe state or quality of occurring at different times or not simultaneously; lack of synchronism. In technical contexts, it refers to operations or events that proceed independently of one another without a shared clock or timing.
- Lack of simultaneity; the condition of events or processes not occurring at the same time or rate.
- (Technical) The property of operations, signals, or systems proceeding independently without a shared timing reference.
"The asynchronism of the two video feeds caused the audio to drift noticeably out of step with the picture."
"The pianist and the recording had to be aligned carefully to eliminate any asynchronism between them."
"In distributed computing, asynchronism allows each node to process messages without waiting for the others."
Rarely pluralized; the uncountable singular is almost always preferred, even when referring to multiple instances of desynchronization.
"The report listed several minor asynchronisms observed across the network."
Before 'async' became a programmer's favorite word, engineers were already wrestling with asynchronism in telegraph lines and early cinema soundtracks — where a few milliseconds out of sync was enough to make lips flap uselessly.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does asynchronism come from?
Asynchronism derives from Greek roots: the negative prefix a- ('not') combined with chronos ('time'), via the adjective asynchronous ('not existing or occurring at the same time'). The word entered English in the nineteenth century alongside advances in electricity and telegraphy, where precise timing of signals mattered greatly. Its sibling terms 'synchronous' and 'synchronize' come from the same Greek stem, as do 'chronology' and 'chronicle'.
How asynchronism is actually used
A formal, somewhat technical word, now largely displaced by the shorter and more natural 'asynchrony' (and, in everyday speech, 'out of sync'). Most often encountered in older engineering literature and in discussions of signal timing.
Easily confused with asynchronism
Asynchrony is the more common modern term for the same concept of events not occurring at the same time, while asynchronism is an older and less frequent synonym.
An anachronism is something placed in the wrong historical period, whereas asynchronism simply means things happening at different, unsynchronized times.