Concurrent

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /kəŋˈkʌɹənt/

Definitions

1. Occurring at the same time or alongside each other
2. Taking place or existing during the same period or instance
3. Existing or occurring together in time without interruption

Etymology: The verb behind "concurrent" is a picture of two things running together. Latin "concurrere" combined "con-" ("with, together") and "currere" ("to run"), so its original sense was literal: people or streams converging on one spot, racing toward the same point. The sense of simultaneity came out of that image, since things that run together also arrive together, and the Latin verb came to mean "happen at the same time." The adjective descends from the present participle of that verb, "concurrens," which passed through Old French "concurrent" into Middle English. Its meaning followed the same path: from bodies moving in company to events and conditions occurring side by side, without one interrupting the other. English speakers today use it for everything from concurrent court sentences to concurrent processes in computing, and each of those uses still carries the notion of things running alongside one another.

Synonyms: simultaneous, coinciding, synchronous

Antonyms: asynchronous