contemporary
contemporary Lexical Profile
contemporary Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Belonging to or occurring in the present time; modern or current in style, design, or character.
"The museum's new wing is dedicated entirely to contemporary art and architecture."
Living, existing, or occurring at the same period of time as another person, event, or thing.
"The historian examined several letters that were contemporary with the signing of the treaty."
• noun
A person or thing living or existing at the same time as another, or of roughly the same age.
"Christopher Marlowe was a famous playwright and a contemporary of William Shakespeare."
Word Nuance & Usage
Because 'contemporary' can mean either 'living at the same historical time' or 'modern/present-day,' phrases like 'contemporary accounts of the Roman Empire' can be ambiguous; many style guides recommend using 'contemporaneous' when referring to things from the same past era.
• Rhymes for contemporary
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the mid-17th century from Medieval Latin contemporarius, formed from the prefix com- ('together with') and tempus, tempor- ('time').