contemporary
[ kuhn-tem-puh-rer-ee ]
/ kənˈtɛm pəˌrɛr i /
|
adjective
existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same time: Newton's discovery of the calculus was contemporary with that of Leibniz.
of about the same age or date: a Georgian table with a contemporary wig stand.
of the present time; modern: a lecture on the contemporary novel.
noun, plural con·tem·po·rar·ies.
a person belonging to the same time or period with another or others.
a person of the same age as another.
Nearby words
Origin of contemporary
SYNONYMS FOR contemporary
Related forms
Can be confusedcontemporary contemporaneous (see synonym study at the current entry)
Synonym study
1. Contemporary, contemporaneous, coeval, coincident all mean happening or existing at the same time. Contemporary often refers to persons or their acts or achievements: Hemingway and Fitzgerald, though contemporary, shared few values. Contemporaneous is applied chiefly to events: the rise of industrialism, contemporaneous with the spread of steam power. Coeval refers either to very long periods of time—an era or an eon—or to remote or long ago times: coeval stars, shining for millenia with equal brilliance; coeval with the dawning of civilization. Coincident means occurring at the same time but without causal or other relationships: prohibition, coincident with the beginning of the 1920s.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for contemporarily
contemporary
/ (kənˈtɛmprərɪ) /
adjective
belonging to the same age; living or occurring in the same period of time
existing or occurring at the present time
conforming to modern or current ideas in style, fashion, design, etc
having approximately the same age as one another
noun plural -raries
Derived Formscontemporarily, adverbcontemporariness, noun
Word Origin for contemporary
C17: from Medieval Latin contemporārius, from Latin com- together + temporārius relating to time, from tempus time
usage
Since contemporary can mean either of the same period or of the present period, it is best to avoid this word where ambiguity might arise, as in a production of Othello in contemporary dress. Modern dress or Elizabethan dress should be used in this example to avoid ambiguity
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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