contemporaneous

American  

[kuhn-tem-puh-rey-nee-uhs] / kənˌtɛm pəˈreɪ ni əs /

adjective

1. living or occurring during the same period of time; contemporary.

   Synonyms:

   concurrent, simultaneous

---

contemporaneous British  

/ kənˌtɛmpəˈreɪnɪəs, kənˌtɛmpərəˈniːɪtɪ /

adjective

1. existing, beginning, or occurring in the same period of time

---

Related Words

See contemporary.

Other Word Forms

• contemporaneity noun
• contemporaneously adverb
• contemporaneousness noun
• noncontemporaneous adjective
• noncontemporaneousness noun
• precontemporaneity noun
• precontemporaneous adjective
• uncontemporaneous adjective
• uncontemporaneousness noun

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.

Example Sentences

I have no contemporaneous documentation of this transaction at all.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 2, 2026

He said the paper had produced "no contemporaneous record or corroborating evidence to support these disputed recollections from nearly 50 years ago".

From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025

The instrumental consort—three viols, two violins, harpsichord and lute/theorbo—offered an invigorating collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean hits by such contemporaneous composers as William Brade, William Lawes, John Dowland and Anthony Holborne.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

The problem, as scholars such as Jerry Lembcke have shown, is that there is almost no contemporaneous evidence of such hostility.

From Slate • Apr. 30, 2025

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