asynchronous - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

a·syn·chro·nous

Audio Help [ey-sing-kruh-nuh

s] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	not occurring at the same time.

2.	(of a computer or other electrical machine) having each operation started only after the preceding operation is completed.

3.	Computers, Telecommunications. of or pertaining to operation without the use of fixed time intervals (opposed to synchronous).

[Origin: 1740–50; a-⁶ + synchronous

]

—Related forms

a·syn·chro·nous·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
asynchronous

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

a·syn·chro·nism Audio Help (ā-sĭng'krə-nĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n. Lack of temporal concurrence; absence of synchronism.

a·syn'chro·nous (-nəs) adj., a·syn'chro·nous·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

asynchronous
adjective
1.	(digital communication) pertaining to a transmission technique that does not require a common clock between the communicating devices; timing signals are derived from special characters in the data stream itself [ant: synchronous]
2.	not synchronous; not occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase [ant: synchronal]

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

asynchronous architecture
Not synchronised by a shared signal such as clock or semaphore, proceeding independently.
Opposite: synchronous.
1. A process in a multitasking system whose execution can proceed independently, "in the background". Other processes may be started before the asynchronous process has finished.
2. A communications system in which data transmission may start at any time and is indicated by a start bit, e.g. EIA-232. A data byte (or other element defined by the protocol) ends with a stop bit. A continuous marking condition (identical to stop bits but not quantized in time), is then maintained until data resumes.
(1995-12-08)