Desynchronisation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of disrupting a state in which events or signals occur together, so that they no longer keep the same timing or rhythm
2. The breakdown of a condition in which several things move or happen in step, leaving them out of time with one another
3. Loss of coordination in timing, where parts that once operated together begin running at separate, unmatched rates

Etymology: "Desynchronisation" is a plain formation rather than a story with a famous coiner. It is built from "desynchronise", which combines the prefix "de-", meaning undoing or reversal, with "synchronise", itself from the Greek "synkhronos", "at the same time". The suffix "-ation" turns the verb into a noun for the process or state of coming apart from synchrony. The source also allows an alternative reading in which "de-" attaches directly to "synchronisation", giving the same sense: a loss of coordination in timing, whether between clocks, machines, signals, or people working together. Both routes produce the same meaning, so the word can be understood simply as "the act or result of ceasing to be synchronised."

Antonyms: synchronisation, synchronization