What does concurrent mean?
Concurrent describes things that exist, happen, or are carried out at the same time. Two meetings held concurrently occupy the same hour; a computer handling many tasks at once performs concurrent processing; and a judge may impose concurrent sentences so that multiple penalties are served together rather than stacked one after another. The word carries a neutral, often technical tone and appears frequently in law, science, business, and technology writing, where precision about timing matters. It derives from Latin roots meaning 'to run together' — literally, events whose courses overlap. Its close cousin is 'simultaneous,' though concurrent often implies ongoing processes or parallel activity rather than a single shared instant. Knowing this word helps you describe parallelism clearly, whether you're scheduling work, discussing software architecture, or reading legal documents.
Existing, occurring, or operating at the same time; simultaneous or parallel.
"The software supports thousands of concurrent users without slowing down."
Frequently used in computing, legal, and scheduling contexts.
(Rare) A person who concurs or agrees; a rival or competitor in some contexts of older usage.
"As a concurrent in the debate, she voiced her agreement with the proposal."
Rarely used; the noun sense of concurrent is uncommon in modern English.
"The committee's concurrents all signed the statement of agreement."
In law, if you're sentenced for three crimes at once, 'concurrent sentences' mean you serve them all together — so the total is the longest one, not their sum.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of concurrent
Concurrent comes from the Latin verb 'concurrere,' meaning 'to run together' or 'to meet,' formed from 'com-' (together) and 'currere' (to run). It entered English in the late Middle Ages via Old French and Latin, initially carrying senses of agreement and meeting as well as simultaneity. The root 'currere' also gave English words such as 'occur,' 'recur,' 'incur,' and 'course,' all of which preserve the idea of running or flowing.
Related word forms
How concurrent is actually used
Formal to neutral register, common in academic, technical, legal, and computing contexts (e.g., 'concurrent users', 'concurrent processing'). In computing it specifically describes processes executing during overlapping time periods.
Easily confused with concurrent
Subsequent means coming after something in time, whereas concurrent means happening at the same time.