Definitions for contemporarykənˈtɛm pəˌrɛr i

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

con•tem•po•rar•y^*kənˈtɛm pəˌrɛr i(adj.; n.)(pl.)-rar•ies.

(adj.)existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same period of time.
of the present time; modern.
of about the same age or date:
a Georgian table with a contemporary wig stand.
(n.)a person or thing belonging to the same time or period with another.
a person of the same age as another.

^* Syn: contemporary , contemporaneous , coeval , coincident mean happening or existing at the same time. contemporary often refers to persons or their acts or achievements: Hemingway and Fitzgerald, though contemporary, shared few values. contemporaneous is applied chiefly to events: the rise of industrialism, contemporaneous with the spread of steam power. coeval refers either to very long periods of time, or to remote or distant times: coeval stars, shining for millennia; coeval with the dawning of civilization. coincident means occurring at the same time but without causal relationship: World War II was coincident with the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Origin of contemporary:

1625–35; < ML contemporārius

con•tem′po•rar`i•ness(n.)

Princeton's WordNet

contemporary, coeval(adj)
a person of nearly the same age as another
contemporary, modern-day(adj)
characteristic of the present
"contemporary trends in design"; "the role of computers in modern-day medicine"
contemporary, present-day(a)(adj)
belonging to the present time
"contemporary leaders"
contemporaneous, contemporary(adj)
occurring in the same period of time
"a rise in interest rates is often contemporaneous with an increase in inflation"; "the composer Salieri was contemporary with Mozart"

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

contemporary(adjective)ənˈtɛm pəˌrɛr i
modern or connected with the present
contemporary art/poetry/architecture
contemporaryənˈtɛm pəˌrɛr i
from the same time as sth else
paintings contemporary with Manet and Cezanne

Wiktionary

contemporary(Noun)
Someone living at the same time.
Cervantes was a contemporary of Shakespeare
contemporary(Noun)
Any creature living at the same time.
The early mammals inherited the earth by surviving their saurian contemporaries
contemporary(Noun)
Something existing at the same time.
Often contemporary customs differ as if dating from different ages, whether they do or not
contemporary(Adjective)
From the same time period, coexistent in time.
contemporary(Adjective)
Modern, of the present age.

Webster Dictionary

Contemporary(adj)
living, occuring, or existing, at the same time; done in, or belonging to, the same times; contemporaneous
Contemporary(adj)
of the same age; coeval
Contemporary(noun)
one who lives at the same time with another; as, Petrarch and Chaucer were contemporaries