What does asynchrony mean?
Asynchrony is the condition of events, processes, or systems failing to occur at the same time or at the same rate — in short, a lack of synchrony. The word appears most often in technical and academic contexts: physiologists speak of asynchrony between circadian rhythms and the external day, cardiologists of mechanical asynchrony in the beating heart, developmental psychologists of uneven growth across a child's cognitive and physical abilities, and computer scientists of asynchrony between communicating programs. Though it carries no strong emotional connotation, its tone is clinical and precise rather than conversational; ordinary speakers would more likely say things are 'out of sync.' Asynchrony is typically uncountable but can be pluralized when distinct instances are being counted. Its usefulness lies in giving a single, exact name to a phenomenon — mismatched timing — that would otherwise require a cumbersome phrase, which explains its steady presence in medical, psychological, and technological literature.
nounThe state or condition of not occurring at the same time or at the same rate; a lack of synchrony between events, processes, or systems.
- A general lack of temporal alignment between events, processes, or systems.
- In medicine and biology, a deviation from the normal coordinated timing of physiological processes (e.g. circadian rhythm or cardiac cycle disruption).
- In developmental psychology, uneven rates of growth in different abilities within one person.
"The asynchrony between the two data streams caused the video to drift out of sync with the audio."
"The researchers observed significant asynchrony between the infants' motor and language development."
"Jet lag is essentially a temporary asynchrony between your internal clock and the local day-night cycle."
Rarely used; reserved mostly for technical contexts where distinct instances of misalignment are counted individually.
"Electroencephalograms revealed multiple asynchronies across the brain's hemispheres."
Your heartbeat literally depends on fighting asynchrony — when the heart's chambers fall out of step, doctors call it dyssynchrony and it can be life-threatening.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of asynchrony
Asynchrony derives from Greek roots: the negative prefix 'a-' ('not'), 'syn' ('together'), and 'chronos' ('time'), so it literally means 'not together in time.' It was formed on the model of 'synchrony,' entering English in the modern era as scientific writing demanded a precise term for misalignment in timing. It shares its Greek ancestry with a wide family of time-related words, including 'chronology,' 'chronic,' 'anachronism,' and 'synchronize.'
Related word forms
How asynchrony is actually used
Asynchrony is a formal, technical-leaning word common in scientific writing (medicine, psychology, computing, biology). It is countable when referring to individual instances ('several asynchronies') but more often used as an uncountable mass noun. In everyday conversation, phrases like 'out of sync' are far more common.
Easily confused with asynchrony
An anachronism is something placed in the wrong historical time period, whereas asynchrony refers to any failure of events or processes to align in timing.
Desynchrony implies a loss of previously existing synchronization, while asynchrony can describe things that were never synchronized in the first place.