contemporaneous
Americanadjective
adjective
Related Words
See contemporary.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of contemporaneous
First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin contemporāneus, equivalent to con- con- + tempor- (stem of tempus “time”) + -āneus ( -ān(us) -an + -eus -eous )
Explanation
If you're born on the same day as your friend, you've got a contemporaneous birthday, or one that happens in the same period of time. Contemporaneous comes from the Latin prefix con- meaning "together with" and temporaneus, meaning "time." Two contemporaneous events happen together in time. Richard Nixon's presidency and the first man on the moon are contemporaneous — both happened at the same period of time in history.
Vocabulary lists containing contemporaneous
Ides, Eon, Epoch, and Era: Time-related Words
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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This Week in Words: April 14 - 20, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A fundamental tension has always underlain the history of the Civil Rights movement, much as it did contemporaneous news coverage.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026
“In all our dealings with Mr. Sanberg, both directly and through his counsel, he provided information that was consistent with our review of contemporaneous documents and other evidence,” wrote Dave Anders of Wachtell Lipton.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026
"She's a diplomat, not a D-list celebrity. My 15-year-old, social media obsessed, brother is less shameless in his self-promotion," reads some contemporaneous testimony.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
I have no contemporaneous documentation of this transaction at all.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 2, 2026
It is as fundamental a structural change to the way music sounded as was the contemporaneous decision to start using timber frames and bricks in the building of houses.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
