contemporary

modern, contemporary, current, recent, present, up-to-date

这些形容词均有“现代的、当代的”之意。
modern: 指现代或近代，时期可长可短；也可指新颖、时髦的。
contemporary: 仅指当今这个时代，不涉及任何过去的时代，但可表示不同的人或物存在于同一时代。
current: 指目前存在和发生的。
recent: 表示新近的，最近的，时间的长短依据所修饰的人或物而定。
present: 是这些词中语气最强的一个。指现在正发生、起作用的。
up-to-date: 一般用于非正式场合，指很时新、能反映当前的最新发展。

名词 contemporary:

1. a person of nearly the same age as another
   同义词：coeval

形容词 contemporary:

1. characteristic of the present
   同义词：modern-day
2. belonging to the present time
   同义词：present-day
3. occurring in the same period of time
   同义词：contemporaneous

1. My parents think that the contemporary young people have no respect for authority.
   我父母认为现在的年轻人不尊重权威。
2. He had devoted his whole life to the study of contemporary art.
   他把他的一生都献给了当代艺术研究。
3. She and I were contemporaries at college.
   她和我在学院里是同学。
4. Contemporary reports of the past events are often more interesting than modern historians' view of them.
   对于历史上的事件，当时的报道往往比现代历史学家的评述更为有趣。
5. He is a contemporary of mine, but our experiences are completely different.
   他和我是同龄人，但我们的经历截然不同。

con.tem.po.rar.y

adj.Abbr. contemp.（形容词）缩写 contemp.
Belonging to the same period of time:
属于同时期的：
例句：
a fact documented by two contemporary sources.
由两份同期原始资料所证明的事实

Of about the same age.
（大约）同年龄的
Current; modern:
当前的；现代（派）的：
例句：
contemporary trends in design.
现代（派）设计倾向

n.（名词）
【复数】 con.tem.po.rar.ies 缩写 contemp.
One of the same time or age:
同龄人：同一时代或同一年龄的人：
例句：
Shelley and Keats were contemporaries.
雪莱和济慈是同一时代的人

A person of the present age.
当前时代的人

来源：
Medieval Latin contempor3rius
中世纪拉丁语 contempor3rius
Latin com- [com-]
拉丁语 com- [前缀，表.合.]
Latin tempus tempor- [time]
拉丁语 tempus tempor- [时代]
Latin -3rius [-ary]
拉丁语 -3rius [后缀，表.与…有关的人.]

【引伸】
contem.porar.ily
<参考词汇><同义词>contemporary,contemporaneous,simultaneous,synchronous,concurrent,coincident,concomitantThese adjectives mean existing or occurring at the same time.
这些形容词表示存在或发生于同一时期的。
Contemporary is used more often of persons,contemporaneous of events and facts:
Contemporary 更多地用来形容人，而contemporaneous 则形容事件或事实：
例句：
The composer Salieri had the misfortune of being contemporary with Mozart.
作曲家萨利埃不幸与莫扎特处于同时代。

例句：
A rise in interest rates is often contemporaneous with an increase in inflation. Onlycontemporary has the sense .modern. or .present-day.:
利率的提高常常与通货膨胀的增长同时出现。 只有contemporary 有.现代的.或.当前的.之意：

例句：
I heard a concert of contemporary music.
我听了一场现代派音乐会。

Simultaneous more narrowly specifies occurrence of events at the same time:
Simultaneous 更为狭义地具体指事件的同时发生：
例句：
Opponents of nuclear power tried to organize simultaneous demonstrations in all the major cities.
核动力反对者们试图在所有大城市里组织同时进行的示威活动。

Synchronous refers to correspondence of events in time over a generally short period:
Synchronous 指事件在一般为期较短的时间内的一致：
例句：
The animal uttered a series of low cries that seemed synchronous with its heartbeat.
这只野兽发出一连串似乎与它的心跳频率一致的低吼声。

Concurrent implies parallelism in character or length of time:
Concurrent 含有在性质或时间段上一致的意思：
例句：
The mass murderer was given three concurrent life sentences.
那个屠杀群众的凶手被同时判处并执行三个无期徒刑。

Coincident applies to events occurring at the same time without implying a relationship between them:
Coincident 适用于同时发生的事件但并不暗示它们之间有相互联系：
例句：
.The resistance to the Pope`s authority . . . is pretty nearly coincident with the rise of the Ottomans. (John Henry Newman).
.对教皇权威的反抗与奥斯曼土耳其人的兴起几乎同时发生. （约翰·亨利·纽曼）。

Concomitant refers to coincidence in time of events so clearly related that one seems attendant on the other:
Concomitant 也指事件的同时发生，但这些事件有明显的相互联系以至于似乎一件事是随着另一件事而产生的结果：
例句：
He is an adherent of the theories of Sigmund Freud and had a concomitant belief in the efficacy of psychoanalysis.
他是西格蒙·弗洛伊德学说的信徒，自然也就相信解析的功效

Whencontemporary is used in reference to something in the past, its meaning is not always clear.Contemporary critics of Shakespeare may mean critics in his time or critics in our time. When the context does not make the meaning clear,misunderstanding can be avoided by using phrases such ascritics in Shakespeare`s time or modern critics.
当comtemporary 被用来指过去的事情时， 它的含义有时是很模糊的。Contemporary critics of Shakespeare 可以表示与莎士比亚同时代的评论家们或者我们当代的评论家们。 如果上下文不能说清楚意思，可以用诸如critics in Shakespeare`s time（莎士比亚那个时代的评价家们） 或 modern critics（当代评论家们） 之类的短语以避免产生误解