Coincide and scatter are opposites in direction. Coincide is for two independent things to occupy the same point or happen at the same time. Scatter is to throw or send things in different directions so they spread out irregularly. Coincide brings things to one shared point; scatter flings them apart at random.
One brings two things to the very same point; the other throws things wide apart. Coincide, from co- 'together' and incidere 'to fall upon', means two things fall on the same spot or moment. Scatter, close to 'shatter', throws things out in every direction so they land with no pattern. Two events coincide at one moment; a break shot scatters the balls across the table. One converges on a single point; the other flings apart into disorder.
coincide
To coincide is to occupy the same point — in time, space, or opinion — while belonging to different paths. From the Latin co-incidere, 'to fall upon together'. Festivals coincide with full moons; an interview coincides with a strike; two rivals' interests briefly coincide. The word insists on independence: neither schedule bent for the other, which is exactly what makes coincidence feel like fate — two orbits, each obeying only itself, agreeing on a single moment.
scatter
To scatter is to send things flying apart so they land here and there with no order — a handful of gravel flung across a path, papers blown off a desk, a flock startled into the air. The word stresses suddenness and irregularity: what scatters is strewn unevenly and left wherever it falls, not neatly distributed. It works both ways, much like its cousin disperse — a crowd can scatter, or police can scatter it — but where disperse suggests an even thinning-away, scatter keeps that sense of a sudden, random fling.
| coincide | scatter | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | occupy the same point or time | throw things apart in all directions |
| Direction | to one shared point | outward, at random |
| The result | two things meeting at a point | an irregular, patternless spread |
| Often with | dates, events, lines, opinions | balls, papers, seeds, a crowd |
| Noun | coincidence | scattering / a scatter |
| Example | The dates coincide. | The papers scattered. |
Ask whether things meet at one point or fly wide. Coincide brings two things to the very same point or moment — two rings crossing at one spot. Scatter flings an arrangement apart with no pattern — balls broken across the table. If two things share a single point, they coincide; if things are thrown apart at random, that is scatter.
coincide
- iHer visit happened to coincide with the festival.
- iiThe two lines coincide at exactly one point.
- iiiOur views on the matter largely coincide.
scatter
- iA gust scattered the papers across the yard.
- iiThe crowd scattered the moment the alarm sounded.
- iiiShe scattered the seeds by hand across the bed.
Coincide brings two things to a single shared point or moment; scatter flings many things apart with no pattern. They are opposite in direction — toward one point versus away in all directions. Note coincide's figurative sense (opinions coincide = agree), which scatter has no match for.