contemporary

Where does the word "contemporary" come from? It comes from Latin con, and was adopted directly into English (1630s).

Contemporary’s story begins in Latin: con meant “together with.” Together with, combined with tempus (time). It reached English by 1630s as contemporary. Settled as the English word for something existing in the same time period. Today, contemporary means belonging to or existing in the present time, or the same time period as something else.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient con "together with", together with, combined with tempus (time).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1630s contemporary "existing or occurring in the same time period", settled as the English word for something existing in the same time period.