contemporary English · revision 4894

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1631|origins=la-med contemporarius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /kənˈtem.pər.ər.i/, US /kənˈtem.pə.rer.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|contemporārius]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) formed from [[con-]] “together” and temporārius “of time”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from tempus “time”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) after Latin contemporāneus and Late Latin contemporālis.^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) It is related to [[temporary]] and [[contemporaneous]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Living or happening at the same time, with “with”: 1631 in the OED, Barnhart and MWU, the 1630s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the mid-17th century until after the 1750s the form ''cotemporary'' largely replaced contemporary, which became usual again in the later 18th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun, a person living at the same time, is from before 1635, first as cotemporary.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) English had earlier used contemporanie (early 15th century) and the native ''time-fellow'' (1570s).^(Etymonline) Equal in age is from before 1667.^(OED 1989) The meaning “modern, of the present time”, of art and literature, is from 1805 in Etymonline and 1866 in the OED,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in the 1950s it was a fashionable word for up-to-date design.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1631 – of the same time.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1635 – noun, a person of the same time (as cotemporary).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1662 – the form ''cotemporary''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1805 – modern, of the present.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Belonging to the present time; [[modern]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Living or happening at the same time as something else.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of about the same age.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who lived at the same time as another, or who is about the same age.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contemporarily]]

+ * [[contemporariness]]

+ * [[contemporize]]

+ * [[noncontemporary]]

+ * [[ultracontemporary]]

+ * [[uncontemporary]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[temporary]]

+ * [[contemporaneous]]

+ * [[temporal]]

+ * [[tempo]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The AHD warns that used of the past, contemporary can be unclear: ''contemporary critics of Shakespeare'' may be critics of his time or of ours.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}