coeval

American  

[koh-ee-vuhl] / koʊˈi vəl /

adjective

1. of the same age, date, or duration; equally old.

   Analysis has proved that this manuscript is coeval with that one.

2. coincident.

   Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were only approximately coeval.

---

noun

1. a contemporary.

   He is more serious than his coevals.

coeval British  

/ ˌkəʊɪˈvælɪtɪ, kəʊˈiːvəl /

adjective

1. of or belonging to the same age or generation

---

noun

1. a contemporary

Synonym Usage

See contemporary.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• coevally
  adverb
• coevality
  noun

Etymology

Origin of coeval

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Late Latin coaev(us) (equivalent to co- “with, together” + -aevus, adjective derivative of aevum “age”) + -al adjective suffix; see co-, -al ¹

Explanation

When two things live or happen during the same period of time, they are coeval. If you annotate an old poem, the annotations and the text of the poem are not coeval. The word coeval comes from the Latin co- "jointly" or "in common" and aevum "age." The beginning of Major League Baseball is coeval with the invention of the telephone. People can be coeval, though more often you'll hear contemporary used to describe people who are about the same age. You and your contemporaries probably view the world a lot differently than your grandparents' generation.