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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Vocabulary
Contemporary vs contemporaneous
Hi, I wonder if "contemporary" and "contemporaneous" are exact synonyms or if there is some slight shade of difference in meaning?
Top answer
They are not used the same way at all. A contemporary, as a noun, means someone or something that existed at the same time (perhaps in the same field) as someone or something else. As an adjective, contemporary is used to mean modern or current, as in contemporary music.
- They are not used the same way at all.
- A contemporary, as a noun, means someone or something that existed at the same time (perhaps in the same field) as someone or something else.
- As an adjective, contemporary is used to mean modern or current, as in contemporary music.
- Contemporaneous, which is not used very often, by the way -- when I use it, I often get weird looks, is used to refer to two events that took place at the same time.
- The dictionary does list them with the same meanings, but they're just not used the same way.
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6 Answers
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They are not used the same way at all.
A contemporary, as a noun, means someone or something that existed at the same time (perhaps in the same field) as someone or something else.
As an adjective, contemporary is used to mean modern or current, as in contemporary music.
Contemporaneous, which is not used very often, by the way -- when I use it, I often get weird looks
A contemporary, as a noun, means someone or something that existed at the same time (perhaps in the same field) as someone or something else.
As an adjective, contemporary is used to mean modern or current, as in contemporary music.
Contemporaneous, which is not used very often, by the way -- when I use it, I often get weird looks
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Yes, I found approximately the same meaning for the two words on wiktionary, so that's why I asked. The phrase in question is (in a book on ancient Egypt):
"Sites that are contemporaneous with the Western Desert occupation occur at Nazlet Khater..."
Would you say the meaning changes if "contemporary" were used in the above sentence? Pehaps the meaning is the same, but "contempo
"Sites that are contemporaneous with the Western Desert occupation occur at Nazlet Khater..."
Would you say the meaning changes if "contemporary" were used in the above sentence? Pehaps the meaning is the same, but "contempo
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Contemporary would sound wrong there.
You could say that people who lives at the one site were contemporaries with people who lived at the other, but the two sites themselves existed contemporaneously.
You could say that people who lives at the one site were contemporaries with people who lived at the other, but the two sites themselves existed contemporaneously.
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so this is the point contemporaneously sounds more like an adverb and is thus used as an adverb while contemporary is mainly used with its adjectival form and, its adverbial form "contemporarily" refers to smthng occuring at the present, or alluding to smthng in a modern way (currently, modernly).
Whereas we can use only "contemporaneous(ly)" to depict events,persons living or occuring a
Whereas we can use only "contemporaneous(ly)" to depict events,persons living or occuring a
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My 5c worth on the use of the two words:
Contemporaneous: Used to describe things that occurred at the same time or during the same period as something.
Contemporary: Used to describe things that originate at least in part, in the present range of time, or
things that originate from the same time, as something.
The rise of British popular music in the early 1960'
Contemporaneous: Used to describe things that occurred at the same time or during the same period as something.
Contemporary: Used to describe things that originate at least in part, in the present range of time, or
things that originate from the same time, as something.
The rise of British popular music in the early 1960'
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I have to say I disagree with both of the above points. In your second example you could use 'contemporary to' to replace 'contemporaneous with', as their adjective meanings are synonymous. In everyday use for most people, 'contemporary' may suggest 'modern', but as a historian, it is entirely normal to talk about 'contemporary sources' meaning sources written at the time being studied (e.g
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