CONTEMPORARY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does contemporary mean? 

• CONTEMPORARY (noun)
  The noun CONTEMPORARY has 1 sense:

1. a person of nearly the same age as another

  Familiarity information: CONTEMPORARY used as a noun is very rare.

• CONTEMPORARY (adjective)
  The adjective CONTEMPORARY has 3 senses:

1. characteristic of the present

2. belonging to the present time

3. occurring in the same period of time

  Familiarity information: CONTEMPORARY used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONTEMPORARY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person of nearly the same age as another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

coeval; contemporary

Hypernyms ("contemporary" is a kind of...):

compeer; equal; match; peer (a person who is of equal standing with another in a group)

• CONTEMPORARY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characteristic of the present

Synonyms:

contemporary; modern-day

Context example:

the role of computers in modern-day medicine

Similar:

modern (belonging to the modern era; since the Middle Ages)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Belonging to the present time

Synonyms:

contemporary; present-day

Context example:

contemporary leaders

Similar:

current (occurring in or belonging to the present time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Occurring in the same period of time

Synonyms:

contemporaneous; contemporary

Context example:

the composer Salieri was contemporary with Mozart

Similar:

synchronal; synchronic; synchronous (occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase)

 Context examples 

Contemporary measurements by NASA's NEOWISE mission indicate that the asteroid is roughly 2,000 feet (650 meters) in size, and that its surface is about twice as reflective as that of the moon.

(Asteroid to Fly Safely Past Earth on April 19, NASA)

The fossil discovery occurred in the Pontide terrane, an area in present-day Turkey that was once an island located between contemporary Asia and Africa.

(Fossil discovery adds to understanding of how geological changes affected evolution of mammalian life, National Science Foundation)

This diagnosis is not used in contemporary practice.

(Hysteria, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A new paper reports a staggering degree of biological diversity that defies contemporary definitions of microbial species and illuminates reasons behind challenges in metagenomic studies.

(Study analyzing cells' blueprints reveals new patterns in the global distribution and diversity of ocean microbes, National Science Foundation)

The team found that previous researchers depended on the most evocative written accounts, applying them to other places in the Mediterranean world while ignoring hundreds of contemporary texts that do not mention plague.

(Justinianic plague not a landmark pandemic?, National Science Foundation)

He stands out among contemporary rhymesters—magazine rhymesters—as a gladiator stands out in the midst of a band of eunuchs.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

"Yet," I reflected, she has been young once; her youth would be contemporary with her master's: Mrs. Fairfax told me once, she had lived here many years.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Contemporary pollutants can reach deep wells that tap fossil aquifers, says a study by an international team of researchers.

(Modern pollutants can reach deep fossil aquifers, SciDev.Net)

The brines may also play an important role in contemporary biological processes in the Dry Valleys.

(Discovered deep under Antarctic surface: Extensive, salty aquifer and potentially vast microbial habitat, NSF)

But my choice and constant companions should be a set of my own immortal brotherhood; among whom, I would elect a dozen from the most ancient, down to my own contemporaries.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)