contemporaneous

American  

[kuhn-tem-puh-rey-nee-uhs] / kənˌtɛm pəˈreɪ ni əs /

adjective

1. living or occurring during the same period of time; contemporary.

   Synonyms:

   concurrent, simultaneous

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contemporaneous British  

/ kənˌtɛmpəˈreɪnɪəs, kənˌtɛmpərəˈniːɪtɪ /

adjective

1. existing, beginning, or occurring in the same period of time

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Related Words

See contemporary.

Other Word Forms

• contemporaneity noun
• contemporaneously adverb
• contemporaneousness noun
• noncontemporaneous adjective
• noncontemporaneousness noun
• precontemporaneity noun
• precontemporaneous adjective
• uncontemporaneous adjective
• uncontemporaneousness noun

Etymology

Origin of contemporaneous

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin contemporāneus, equivalent to con- con- + tempor- (stem of tempus “time”) + -āneus ( -ān(us) -an + -eus -eous )

Example Sentences

"She's a diplomat, not a D-list celebrity. My 15-year-old, social media obsessed, brother is less shameless in his self-promotion," reads some contemporaneous testimony.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026

If the trust was never executed, no loan documents were signed, and no contemporaneous bank records confirm the transfer, your brother may have engaged in “unjust enrichment,” which can affect both liability and limitation periods.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 2, 2026

He said the paper had produced "no contemporaneous record or corroborating evidence to support these disputed recollections from nearly 50 years ago".

From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025

The instrumental consort—three viols, two violins, harpsichord and lute/theorbo—offered an invigorating collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean hits by such contemporaneous composers as William Brade, William Lawes, John Dowland and Anthony Holborne.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

Even the October Revolution in Russia in 1905, an event with thunderously far-reaching implications for society at large, had minimal impact on the contemporaneous upheavals in music.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall