contemporary

/kən-ˈtem-pə-ˌrer-ē/

probably borrowed from New Latin contemporārius "existing at the same period of time," from Latin con- com-tempor-, tempus "time" + -ārius

adjective

  1. marked by characteristics of the present period : modern, current

  2. simultaneous

  3. happening, existing, living, or coming into being during the same period of time

contemporary American literature

contemporary contemporaneous coeval synchronous simultaneous coincident mean existing or occurring at the same time. contemporary is likely to apply to people and what relates to them. contemporaneous is more often applied to events than to people.

noun

  1. one that is contemporary with another

  2. one of the same or nearly the same age as another

Petrarch and Chaucer were contemporaries.