Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Belonging to the same period of time.
  • adjective Of about the same age.
  • adjective Current; modern.
  • noun One of the same time or age.
  • noun A person of the present age.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Living, existing, or occurring at the same time; contemporaneous: said of persons, things, or events.
  • Specifically Living or existing at the same time with one's self.
  • Of the same age; coeval.
  • noun One living at the same time (with another).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Living, occuring, or existing, at the same time; done in, or belonging to, the same times; contemporaneous.
  • adjective Of the same age; coeval.
  • noun One who lives at the same time with another.
  • noun a person of nearly the same age as another.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective From the same time period, coexistent in time.
  • adjective Modern, of the present age.
  • noun Someone living at the same time.
  • noun Any creature living at the same time.
  • noun Something existing at the same time.
  • noun Someone of roughly the same age as another.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective characteristic of the present
  • noun a person of nearly the same age as another
  • adjective occurring in the same period of time
  • adjective belonging to the present time

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin contemporārius : Latin com-, com- + Latin tempus, tempor-, time + Latin -ārius, -ary.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Recorded since 1631, from Medieval Latin contemporarius, from Latin con- ("with, together") + temporarius ("of time"), from tempus ("time")

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Examples

Comments

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  • When referring to rare/antique books, this term means just the opposite of what you might assume it means. A contemporary binding, plate, or other book part means that it is of the period when the book was published; likewise, a contemporary signature or inscription was made the year of publication or thereabouts.

    February 22, 2007

  • Contemporary architecture makes very good use of space.

    March 30, 2007