contemporaneous

adjective

con·​tem·​po·​ra·​ne·​ous kən-ˌtem-pə-ˈrā-nē-əs How to pronounce contemporaneous (audio)
: existing, occurring, or originating during the same time
social and political events that were contemporaneous with each other
contemporaneously adverb
contemporaneousness noun
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
As Fowler outlines, in contrast to much contemporaneous Liberal thought, anarchists believed that personal liberty was best pursued socially, in a community free of government and living peacefully with the wider environment. Ben Woollard, JSTOR Daily, 18 June 2025 In contemporaneous notes shared with Suncoast Searchlight, Sheehy wrote that in early 2023, the trust was suddenly on the table as a potential source of funding for a very different purpose. Alice Herman, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 June 2025 That that potentially decades-old statement was widely interpreted as contemporaneous — and still resonates deeply with modern readers — certainly speaks to how some things stay the same. J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 3 June 2025 Which is to say, of course teen movies reflect the times in which they are made and society’s contemporaneous understanding of what Kids Today are like (wholesome or delinquent, risk-taking or anxious, horny or … horny). Lisa Schwarzbaum, New York Times, 31 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for contemporaneous

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

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Cite this Entry

“Contemporaneous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contemporaneous. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.

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

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