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"contemporary" in seven languages

Meaningcontemporary

Spanish

contemporáneo

/kontempoˈɾaneo/

learned

French

contemporain

/kɔ̃tɑ̃pɔʁɛ̃/

learned

Italian

contemporaneo

/kontempoˈraneo/

learned

Portuguese

contemporâneo

/kõtẽpoˈɾɐ̃niu/

learned

Romanian

contemporan

/kontempoˈran/

learned

Catalan

contemporani

/kuntəmpuˈɾani/

learned

English

contemporary

/kənˈtɛmpəɹɛɹi/

from Latin/French · Medieval Latin CONTEMPORĀRIUS

English → ItaliancontemporarycontemporaneoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

CONTEMPORĀNEUM‘of the same time (CON + TEMPUS 'time')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

CON 'together' + TEMPUS 'time'. Learned in all three; French shortened the ending to -ain. English took a slightly different Medieval Latin form, with -ary.

English relatives: temporary, tempo, contemporaneous

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In a sentence

  • esMe encanta el arte contemporáneo.
  • frJ'adore l'art contemporain.
  • itAdoro l'arte contemporanea.
  • ptAdoro arte contemporânea.
  • roIubesc arta contemporană.
  • caM'encanta l'art contemporani.
  • enI love contemporary art.

The Latin family

TEMPUS, TEMPOR-· time

TEMPUS means both 'time' and 'weather' in all three sisters (tiempo, temps, tempo), and the stormy sense spread into its derivatives: Spanish and Italian temporal(e) is a thunderstorm. Spanish built its everyday 'early', temprano, on the same stem. Portuguese tempo and Catalan temps do the same double duty; Romanian timp is 'time', and 'weather' is vreme, a Slavic word that also means 'time'.

  • TEMPUStime; weather

    estiempofrtempsittempopttemporotimpcatempsentempo

  • TEMPORĀLEMof time, temporary

    estemporalfrtemporelittemporalepttemporalrotemporalcatemporalentemporal

  • TEMPORĀNUM (Late Latin)timely

    estempranopttemporão

  • TEMPESTĀTEMseason; storm

    estempestadfrtempêteittempestapttempestadecatempestaentempest

  • CONTEMPORĀNEUMof the same time

    escontemporáneofrcontemporainitcontemporaneoptcontemporâneorocontemporancacontemporaniencontemporary

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