Home / Words / coincideNo. 0063

coincide

/ˌkoʊɪnˈsaɪd//ˌkəʊɪnˈsaɪd/·verb
to happen at the same time, or occupy the same point, by independent paths
Fig. 1 — Two rings turn on their own business — different centres, different sizes, one going round once while the other goes round twice — and neither leans a single degree toward the other.
01Definition

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.

02In use
  • iHer visit happened to coincide with a surge in tourist arrivals.
  • iiThe book's release was timed to coincide with the centenary.
  • iiiOn the rare points where the two theories coincide, both are probably right.
03Collocations
  • coincide with
  • timed to coincide
  • interests coincide
  • happen to coincide

Family coincidence (noun) · coincidental (adjective) · coincidentally (adverb)

04Relations

=co-occur, overlap, concur, align, converge

≠diverge, differ, clash

05Compared
PairThe difference
coincide vs amalgamateseveral things merged into one body → amalgamate; two independent things sharing the same point or time → coincide.
coincide vs blendmix several things into one seamless whole → blend; have two independent things share the same point or time → coincide.
coincide vs coalesceseparate things grow together into one whole → coalesce; two independent things share the same point or time → coincide.
coincide vs concentratetwo independent things share the same point or time → coincide; gather things to a centre to intensify, thicken or focus → concentrate.
coincide vs convergethings landing on the same point or moment → coincide; separate paths gradually meeting → converge.

Also compared with disperse, dissipate, diverge, divide, fuse, intersect, meet, merge, radiate, scatter, separate, split

06TOEFL & IELTS

'Coincide with' is the tested form: TOEFL passages use it for schedules and geological timing ('the eruptions coincided with the extinction event'), and questions paraphrase it as 'happen at the same time'. In IELTS Task 1, 'the peak coincided with the holiday season' is the precise way to align two lines on a chart. Note the drift in the noun — 'coincidence' now suggests lucky accident, while the verb keeps the neutral academic sense.

07Asked
What is the difference between coincide and coincidence?
They split along intent. Things can be deliberately timed to coincide — a launch with a holiday, a visit with a summit — but a coincidence is by definition unplanned. Hence the paradox: you can make two events coincide, yet you cannot make a coincidence. In academic writing the verb is the safer, cleaner tool.
Is it 'coincide with' or 'coincide to'?
With, always: 'the festival coincides with the full moon'. 'Coincide to' is simply an error, and no other preposition substitutes. The verb also refuses a direct object — nothing 'coincides something' — because grammatically it describes two independent things meeting, not one thing acting on another.
Does coincide always mean 'at the same time'?
No — time is just its most common territory. Things coincide in space (two plots share a coinciding boundary) and in substance (our interests coincide, their accounts coincide). The scene above holds all three at once: two rings on independent orbits, one shared point, one shared moment — and a brief agreement that neither path was aiming for.
What is the difference between coincident and coincidental?
Coincident is the technical adjective for things occupying the same time or place ('coincident peaks in the data') — no luck implied. Coincidental means happening by chance ('any resemblance is purely coincidental'). Swapping them misfires in both directions: data peaks are rarely lucky, and film disclaimers are not making a geometry claim.
What does coincide mean in geometry?
To occupy exactly the same position: two lines coincide when every point of one lies on the other — they are, in effect, the same line drawn twice, which is why such systems have infinitely many solutions. It is the word's strictest sense: not meeting at a point, but agreeing everywhere.
How do you pronounce coincide?
Koh-in-SIDE (/ˌkoʊɪnˈsaɪd/) — three syllables with the stress on the last, and the co- is two sounds, koh-in, not 'coin'. British English softens that first vowel to /kəʊ/. The trap is rushing the front into 'coin'; it is really co-in, two light beats before the stressed -cide, and the noun keeps the shape: co-IN-ci-dence.