Contemporarily

Contemporarily is an English adverb used to express time-related ideas in two related senses. In its primary sense, it means in the present time or in the current period, often with a view to modernity or today’s context. For example, a scholarly article might discuss how contemporary culture is shaped contemporarily by digital media. In another sense, the word can be used to indicate that something belongs to or coexists within the same historical period as something else, though this sense is less common and can be ambiguous.

Etymology and relation to related terms: contemporarily is formed from the adjective contemporary plus the suffix -ly. Contemporary itself derives from Late Latin contemporarius, from con- “together” and tempus “time,” indicating belonging to the same time. The adverb contemporaneously is often used when the intended meaning is strictly simultaneity—two events happening at the same time—while contemporarily tends to emphasize present-time relevance or a broad sense of current era.

Usage notes: Contemporarily tends to appear in formal, literary, or scholarly writing. It is comparatively less common in everyday speech, where writers might choose contemporary or contemporary times to convey the present era, or contemporaneously to stress simultaneity. Context usually clarifies whether the author intends present-day relevance or alignment within a shared time period.

See also: contemporary, contemporaneity, contemporarily versus contemporaneously.