contemporaneous

adjective

con·​tem·​po·​ra·​ne·​ous kən-ˌtem-pə-ˈrā-nē-əs How to pronounce contemporaneous (audio)
Synonyms of contemporaneousnext
: existing, occurring, or originating during the same time
social and political events that were contemporaneous with each other
contemporaneously adverb
contemporaneousness noun

Synonyms

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Choose the Right Synonym for contemporaneous

contemporary, contemporaneous, coeval, synchronous, simultaneous, coincident mean existing or occurring at the same time.

contemporary is likely to apply to people and what relates to them.

Abraham Lincoln was contemporary with Charles Darwin

contemporaneous is more often applied to events than to people.

contemporaneous accounts of the kidnapping

coeval refers usually to periods, ages, eras, eons.

two stars thought to be coeval

synchronous implies exact correspondence in time and especially in periodic intervals.

synchronous timepieces

simultaneous implies correspondence in a moment of time.

the two shots were simultaneous

coincident is applied to events and may be used in order to avoid implication of causal relationship.

the end of World War II was coincident with a great vintage year

Examples of contemporaneous in a Sentence

the contemporaneous publication of the two articles contemporaneous accounts of the battle from officers on both sides
Recent Examples on the Web These were a sheet of notebook paper and a bank document that contained contemporaneous, handwritten notes from Mr. McConney and Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg that detailed monthly payments to Michael Cohen. —Peter Grier, The Christian Science Monitor, 9 May 2024 Like contemporaneous conflicts in Guatemala and El Salvador, the war between Sandinistas and Contras had wrecked the country’s economy and left its social fabric hanging by a thread. —TIME, 2 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for contemporaneous 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contemporaneous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin contemporāneus, from Latin con- con- + tempor-, tempus "time" + -āneus, compound suffix formed from -ānus -an entry 2 + -eus -eous — more at -eous

Note: The Latin word contemporāneus occurs as a noun in the sense "contemporary" in a chapter heading of Aulus Gellius's Noctes Atticae (19.14), though these headings are most likely a post-classical interpolation. The word is otherwise not attested before the early Middle Ages.

First Known Use

circa 1656, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of contemporaneous was circa 1656

Dictionary Entries Near contemporaneous

contemporaneity

contemporaneous

contemporariness

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Contemporaneous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contemporaneous. Accessed 29 May. 2024.

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Kids Definition

contemporaneous

adjective
con·​tem·​po·​ra·​ne·​ous kən-ˌtem-pə-ˈrā-nē-əs How to pronounce contemporaneous (audio)
: existing, occurring, or beginning during the same time
contemporaneously adverb
contemporaneousness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on contemporaneous

Nglish: Translation of contemporaneous for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of contemporaneous for Arabic Speakers

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