- contemporary
- contemporary adj Contemporary, contemporaneous, coeval, coetaneous, synchronous, simultaneous, coincident, concomitant, concurrent are comparable when they mean existing, living, or occurring at the same time.In contemporary and contemporaneous (of which contemporary is applied somewhat more frequently to persons, contemporaneous to events), the time regarding which agreement is implied is determined only through the context{
Shakespeare was contemporary with Cervantes, who died in the same month
}{Shelley's last year was contemporaneous with Matthew Arnold's first
}{the reign of Louis XIV was contemporaneous with the Commonwealth in England and also with the Restoration and the revolution of 1688
}{a recent history of the 15th century based on contemporary accounts
}{love of school is not contemporaneous with residence therein; it is an after product— Grandgent
}Contemporary, but not contemporaneous, may imply reference to the present; it then means of the same time as that of the speaker or writer{we are not without contemporary talent— Wharton
}{most contemporary novels Jane found very bad— Rose Macaulay
}Coeval usually implies contemporaneousness for a long time or at a remote time{everyone knows that the Roman Catholic religion is at least coeval with most of the governments where it prevails— Burke
}{the theory requires that these coeval stars should be of nearly the same mass and brightness— Eddington
}Coetaneous is a close synonym of coeval, but it may more specifically suggest contemporaneity of origin{the maturation of Veblen's thought led him to note two forces . . . whose coetaneous presence acted first in the promotion of reason and then in its derangement— Rosenberg
}{ancient and coetaneous mountain ranges
}Synchronous implies an exact correspondence between the usually brief periods of time involved; simultaneous more frequently denotes agreement in the same point or instant of time{two pendulums so adjusted that their movements are synchronous
}{the two shots were simultaneous
}{French speech has run a similar and almost synchronous course with English— Ellis
}{it was proposed that there should be simultaneous insurrections in London . . . and at Newcastle— Macaulay
}Coincident applies to events that are regarded as falling or happening at the same time; it ordinarily minimizes the notion of causal relation{the discovery of America was almost coincident with the capture of Granada
}{the growth of the mine union movement was coincident with the growth of business and manufacturing— Hay
}Concomitant carries so strong an implication of attendance or association that it often imputes a subordinate character; however, only when it implies coincidence or synchronousness is it truly a synonym of the other words{the concomitant circumstances of this event cannot be ignored
}{as the beauty of the body always accompanies the health of it, so certainly is decency concomitant to virtue— Spectator
}Concurrent adds to synchronous the implication of parallelism or agreement (as in length of existence or in quality or character){concurrent terms in prison
}{the concurrent operation of many machines
}{great cultural achievements have not been inevitably, or even generally, concurrent with great material power— Bryson
}Analogous words: living, existing, subsisting (see BE)Contrasted words: see those at CONTEMPORANEOUS
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
