Word of the Day

: January 31, 2010

coeval

adjective koh-EE-vul

What It Means

: of the same or equal age, antiquity, or duration

coeval in Context

"How old is this ancient town? One guess: It dates to 2600-2500 B.C. -- more or less coeval with nearby Stonehenge … which may date to 3100 B.C." (The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 12, 2007)

Did You Know?

"Coeval" comes to English from the Latin word "coaevus," meaning "of the same age." "Coaevus" was formed by combining the "co-" prefix ("in or to the same degree") with Latin "aevum" ("age" or "lifetime"). The root "ev" comes from "aevum," making words such as "longevity," "medieval," and "primeval" all near relations to "coeval." Although "coeval" can technically describe any two or more entities that coexist, it is most typically used to refer to things that have existed together for a very long time (such as galaxies) or that were concurrent with each other in the distant past (parallel historical periods of ancient civilizations, for example).