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Contemporary vs. Historical

Contemporary and Historical Definitions

Contemporary

Belonging to the same period of time
A fact documented by two contemporary sources.

Historical

Of or relating to history; concerned with past events
A historical account.

Contemporary

Of about the same age.

Historical

Based on past events or set in the past
A historical novel.

Contemporary

Current; modern
Contemporary trends in design.

Historical

Used in or providing evidence of the past
Historical costumes.
Historical records.
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Contemporary

One of the same time or age
Shelley and Keats were contemporaries.

Historical

Concerned with phenomena as they change through time
A historical dictionary.

Contemporary

A person of the present age.

Historical

Important or famous in history. See Usage Note at historic.

Contemporary

From the same time period, coexistent in time; contemporaneous.

Historical

Of, concerning, or in accordance with recorded history, (particularly) as opposed to legends, myths, and fictions.
July 4, 1776, is a historic date. A great deal of historical research has been done on the events leading up to that day.
The historical works of Lord Macaulay and Edward Gibbon are in and of themselves historic.
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Contemporary

Modern, of the present age (shorthand for ‘contemporary with the present’).

Historical

About history; depicting persons or events from history.

Contemporary

Someone or something living at the same time, or of roughly the same age as another.
Cervantes was a contemporary of Shakespeare.
The early mammals inherited the earth by surviving their saurian contemporaries.

Historical

Of, concerning, or in accordance with the past generally.

Contemporary

Something existing at the same time.

Historical

Set in the past.
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Contemporary

(dated) A rival newspaper or magazine.

Historical

(uncommon) Former, erstwhile; lapsed, nominal.

Contemporary

Living, occuring, or existing, at the same time; done in, or belonging to, the same times; contemporaneous.
This king [Henry VIII.] was contemporary with the greatest monarchs of Europe.

Historical

(grammar) One of various tenses or moods used to tell about past events, historic (tense).

Contemporary

Of the same age; coeval.
A grove born with himself he sees,And loves his old contemporary trees.

Historical

Synonym of hereditaryor evolutionary.

Contemporary

One who lives at the same time with another; as, Petrarch and Chaucer were contemporaries.

Historical

Of, concerning, or in accordance with the scholarly discipline of history.
The Royal Historical Society
The State Historical Society of Wisconsin

Contemporary

A person of nearly the same age as another.

Historical

Done in the manner of a historian: written as a development over time or in accordance with the historical method.

Contemporary

A person of nearly the same age as another

Historical

(uncommon) historic: important or likely to be important to history and historians.

Contemporary

Characteristic of the present;
Contemporary trends in design
The role of computers in modern-day medicine

Historical

Forming compound adjectives with the meaning "historical/~" or "historically":

Contemporary

Belonging to the present time;
Contemporary leaders

Historical

A historical romance.

Contemporary

Occurring in the same period of time;
A rise in interest rates is often contemporaneous with an increase in inflation
The composer Salieri was contemporary with Mozart

Historical

Of or relating to the study of history;
Historical scholars
A historical perspective

Historical

Having once lived or existed or taken place in the real world as distinct from being legendary;
The historical Jesus
Doubt that a historical Camelot every existed
Actual historical events

Historical

Belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past;
Historic victories
Historical (or historic) times
A historical character

Historical

Used of the study of a phenomenon (especially language) as it changes through time;
Diachronic linguistics

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