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.
“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 was contemporaneous with Free to Be You and Me, which she contributed a written piece to the book version of Free to Be You and Me..
From Slate • Apr. 18, 2026
The first is the dread of contemporaneous discovery, which is no problem if a donor arranges for his or her diary to be sealed until the people in it are dead.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 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
It is a thousand years old, roughly contemporaneous with a report of an organ at Winchester Cathedral that boasted an extraordinary four hundred pipes.
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.
