Contemporary Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of CONTEMPORARY

1

:

happening or beginning now or in recent times

• contemporary [=_modern_] jazz/poetry/art/furniture
• The story is old, but it has importance to contemporary [=_current_] audiences.

2

:

existing or happening in the same time period

:

from the same time period

• The book is based on contemporary accounts of the war. [=accounts of the war that were written when the war was happening]

Britannica Dictionary definition of CONTEMPORARY

[count]

:

a person who lives at the same time or is about the same age as another person

• He was a contemporary of George Washington.
• She is politically very different from most of her contemporaries.