Definition of CONTEMPORANEOUS

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 Comey's memos were contemporaneous notes of his conversations with Trump. — Daniel Chaitin, Washington Examiner, "FBI officials hid copies of 'key' documents after Trump fired Comey: Book," 31 July 2020 The shrine is also contemporaneous with the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, suggesting similar ritual practices may have taken place at the biblical house of worship, per Ilan Ben Zion for the Associated Press. — Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, "Archaeologists Identify Traces of Burnt Cannabis in Ancient Jewish Shrine," 4 June 2020 Officers and commanders expected that their comments and orders made during the operation would be captured electronically, to create a contemporaneous record of the event. — Tom Jackman, Washington Post, "Park Police did not record their radio transmissions during Lafayette Square operation on June 1," 7 July 2020 The power of his work, says Ms Kim, stems from his dual role as artist and witness—not just through the contemporaneous recording of violence, but in teasing out responses that stretch over decades. — The Economist, "Opening the black box Alfredo Jaar makes art from the news," 20 June 2020 Taken together, the official’s contemporaneous notes, later shared with ProPublica, read like a disturbing diary of what the official came to see as a slow motion leadership disaster. — Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, "Two Coasts. One Virus. How New York Suffered Nearly 10 Times the Number of Deaths as California.," 16 May 2020 This oral history of a day that America will never forget has been compiled from contemporaneous quotes, social media posts, and original interviews. — Garrett M. Graff, Wired, "An Oral History of the Day Everything Changed," 24 Apr. 2020 The painter has portrayed the soldier in a way that any contemporaneous viewer in historically Catholic France would recognize immediately as a secular Christ. — Los Angeles Times, "Commentary: Napoleon has it all over Trump when it comes to spinning plague propaganda," 23 Apr. 2020 Alongside vivid illustrations of Bible scenes, among them Moses parting the Red Sea, the text contains images of contemporaneous Jews, possibly including the Haggadah’s original owners. — The Economist, "Exodus and odyssey Why is this Haggadah different from all others?," 16 Apr. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'contemporaneous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for contemporaneous

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.