Contemporary in Different Languages
Discover 'Contemporary' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Contemporary is a term that holds significant weight in our modern lexicon. It signifies the present time and its trends, ideas, and art. The word is not confined to any one culture, making it a universal concept that transcends borders and languages.
The cultural importance of the contemporary era is immense. It is a period of rapid change, innovation, and exploration. From contemporary dance to contemporary art, this term encapsulates the spirit of the now. It is a reminder that we are all part of a global community, constantly evolving and shaping the world around us.
Understanding the translation of 'contemporary' in different languages can provide fascinating insights into how various cultures perceive and engage with the present. For instance, in Spanish, 'contemporary' translates to 'contemporáneo', while in French, it is 'contemporain'. In Mandarin, it is '当代' (dāng dài), and in Japanese, '現代' (gendai).
Exploring these translations offers a glimpse into how different cultures conceptualize and interact with the present. It is a journey that highlights the richness and diversity of our global community.
Contemporary
Contemporary in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | kontemporêr | ||
| The Afrikaans word "kontemporêr" originates from the French word "contemporain" and literally means "at the same time". | |||
| Amharic | ዘመናዊ | ||
| The word "ዘመናዊ" (contemporary) in Amharic is derived from the word "ዘመን" (time), implying that it is "of the time" or "in accordance with the present era." | |||
| Hausa | zamani | ||
| The word "zamani" in Hausa also means "time" or "season". | |||
| Igbo | dịkọrọ ndụ | ||
| The word "dịkọrọ ndụ" in Igbo is derived from the root word "dikọ," meaning to meet or encounter, and "ọdụ," meaning place or time, suggesting an intersection of moments or experiences. | |||
| Malagasy | maoderina | ||
| "Maoderina" in Malagasy not only means "contemporary," but also "modern" or "new." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | wamasiku ano | ||
| The word "wamasiku ano" can also refer to current events or news in Nyanja (Chichewa). | |||
| Shona | ano | ||
| The word "ano" also means "now" or "at present" in Shona, capturing the sense of immediacy associated with contemporary time. | |||
| Somali | casriga ah | ||
| The word 'casriga ah' is derived from the Arabic word 'asri', meaning 'modern' or 'contemporary'. | |||
| Sesotho | mehleng ya kajeno | ||
| The word "mehleng ya kajeno" can also refer to "the time of today" or "the present day". | |||
| Swahili | kisasa | ||
| The word 'kisasa' is derived from the Arabic word 'qisas' (قصاص), meaning 'retaliation' or 'justice.' | |||
| Xhosa | wangoku | ||
| In Xhosa, "wangoku" also means "a little while ago". | |||
| Yoruba | imusin | ||
| The word "imusin" in Yoruba also refers to the "new season" or "new year". | |||
| Zulu | wesimanje | ||
| Wesimanje derives from "isimanje", meaning "world", and "umkhosi", meaning "festival", suggesting a sense of communal unity and celebration. | |||
| Bambara | bi ko | ||
| Ewe | tsidzi nu | ||
| Kinyarwanda | muri iki gihe | ||
| Lingala | bato ya eleko moko | ||
| Luganda | okuberewo mukasera kona | ||
| Sepedi | paka ya bjale | ||
| Twi (Akan) | nnɛɛmasɛm | ||
Contemporary in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | معاصر | ||
| The word 'معاصر' (contemporary) also means 'oil press' or 'crushing machine' in Arabic. | |||
| Hebrew | עַכשָׁוִי | ||
| The word עַכשָׁוִי is also related to the word עכשׁו, meaning "now", and denotes something that is current or up-to-date, highlighting the connection between the present moment and contemporary ideas. | |||
| Pashto | معاصر | ||
| The word "معاصر" also means "of equal age" or "one who lives at the same time" in Pashto. | |||
| Arabic | معاصر | ||
| The word 'معاصر' (contemporary) also means 'oil press' or 'crushing machine' in Arabic. | |||
Contemporary in Western European Languages
| Albanian | bashkëkohore | ||
| The word "bashkëkohore" is derived from the words "bashkë" (together) and "kohore" (time), meaning "occurring at the same time". It can also refer to people or things that belong to the same period of time. | |||
| Basque | garaikidea | ||
| The word "garaikidea" in Basque is derived from the words "gara" (time) and "ikidea" (companion), meaning "companion of the time" | |||
| Catalan | contemporani | ||
| The word "contemporani" in Catalan can also mean "companion" or "friend". | |||
| Croatian | suvremena | ||
| The word 'suvremena' comes from the Latin word 'subvenire', meaning 'to come to assistance', and can also refer to a type of musical instrument in the Balkans. | |||
| Danish | moderne | ||
| Moderne also means 'fashionable' and is not synonymous with 'ny'. | |||
| Dutch | hedendaags | ||
| The word "hedendaags" in Dutch, like its English equivalent, derives from the Latin "hodiernus", meaning "of today". | |||
| English | contemporary | ||
| The word 'contemporary' derives from the Latin word 'contemporaneus,' meaning 'occurring at the same time. | |||
| French | contemporain | ||
| The word "contemporain" in French also means "fellow citizen" and derives from Latin "contemporaneus", meaning "born at the same time". | |||
| Frisian | eigentiidske | ||
| The Frisian word "eigentiidske" can also mean "modern" or "up-to-date". | |||
| Galician | contemporáneo | ||
| En Galicia, "contemporáneo" también puede referirse a alguien o algo que es adecuado a la época actual. | |||
| German | zeitgenössisch | ||
| The German word "zeitgenössisch" can refer to both a person's "present age" and to the "time of writing". | |||
| Icelandic | samtíma | ||
| The word 'samtíma' is derived from the Old Norse word 'samtíð', which also means 'contemporary' and is related to the English word 'time'. | |||
| Irish | comhaimseartha | ||
| Comhaimseartha comes from comh "with, together" + aimsir "time" so literally "of one time, at the same time". | |||
| Italian | contemporaneo | ||
| The word "contemporaneo" derives from the Latin word "contempus," meaning "time," and can also refer to the concept of "timeliness" or "appropriateness." | |||
| Luxembourgish | zäitgenëssesch | ||
| Maltese | kontemporanja | ||
| The Maltese word "kontemporanja" originates from the Italian word "contemporaneo" and the Latin word "contemporaneus". | |||
| Norwegian | moderne | ||
| The word "moderne" in Norwegian also refers to a 20th-century style in architecture, furniture design, and other arts. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | contemporâneo | ||
| The Portuguese word "contemporâneo" comes from the Latin word "contemporaneus," meaning "living at the same time." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | co-aimsireil | ||
| Co-aimsireil (Scots Gaelic for "contemporary") was first coined in 1945, a compound of "co" (together) and "aimsir" (time). | |||
| Spanish | contemporáneo | ||
| In Spanish, "contemporáneo" can also refer to a person who lives in the same time period. | |||
| Swedish | samtida | ||
| "Samtida" comes from the Old Swedish "samtidi" meaning "same time". | |||
| Welsh | cyfoes | ||
| Also "cyfoes" (in Welsh, "cyfoes" is an adjective meaning "equivalent, corresponding" and a noun meaning "equivalence"). | |||
Contemporary in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | сучасніка | ||
| The word "сучасніка" in Belarusian can also refer to "the present time" or "the present generation". | |||
| Bosnian | savremeni | ||
| The word "savremeni" in Bosnian comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "съврѣменъ", meaning "of the present time". | |||
| Bulgarian | съвременен | ||
| The word "съвременен" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "съвършьнъ" meaning "perfect, complete". | |||
| Czech | moderní | ||
| In Czech, "moderní" can also refer to "art nouveau". | |||
| Estonian | kaasaegne | ||
| The word "kaasaegne" comes from "kaas" (fellow) and "aeg" (time). | |||
| Finnish | nykyaikainen | ||
| The word "nykyaikainen" is derived from "nyky" (present) and "aika" (time), so it originally meant "of the present time". | |||
| Hungarian | kortárs | ||
| The word "kortárs" in Hungarian is derived from the Latin "contemporaneus," meaning "occurring at the same time." | |||
| Latvian | laikmetīgs | ||
| The word "laikmetīgs" comes from the Latvian words "laiks" (time) and "mētīgs" (fitting). | |||
| Lithuanian | šiuolaikinis | ||
| The word "šiuolaikinis" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "*k̂yu-ō-s", meaning "now" or "today". | |||
| Macedonian | современ | ||
| In Old Church Slavonic, "современ" meant "the same era" but in Macedonian, it only means "contemporary", i.e. an artist or artwork from the same time period. | |||
| Polish | współczesny | ||
| In Polish, «współczesny» also means «similar», «commensurate». | |||
| Romanian | contemporan | ||
| In Romanian, "contemporan" is derived from the Latin "contempŏrānus" but may also refer to "a relative in the fourth degree", i.e., a cousin. | |||
| Russian | современный | ||
| The Russian word "современный" derives from the Proto-Slavic "съ-временъ", meaning "of the same time". | |||
| Serbian | савремени | ||
| The word савремени (contemporary) is derived from the French word "contemporain" and can also be used to describe a person who is living at the same time as another. | |||
| Slovak | súčasný | ||
| The word "súčasný" comes from the Proto-Slavic verb *soti ('to be') or Proto-Slavic adjective *są ('this, such'). | |||
| Slovenian | sodobna | ||
| Sodobna is also a colloquial term for 'girl' or 'chick' in Slovenian slang. | |||
| Ukrainian | сучасний | ||
| The word "сучасний" in Ukrainian comes from the Old Slavic word "sъsęditi" which means "to neighbor". | |||
Contemporary in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সমকালীন | ||
| The word "সমকালীন" can also mean "parallel" or "coeval" in Bengali. | |||
| Gujarati | સમકાલીન | ||
| The word "સમકાલીન" (contemporary) is derived from the Sanskrit word "samakala," which means "the same time". | |||
| Hindi | समकालीन | ||
| समकालीन can also mean 'present time' or 'recent'. | |||
| Kannada | ಸಮಕಾಲೀನ | ||
| ಸಮಕಾಲೀನ is a loanword from English, and has the same meaning - belonging to or existing in the present. | |||
| Malayalam | സമകാലികം | ||
| The word "സമകാലികം" also means "at the same time" or "concurrent". | |||
| Marathi | समकालीन | ||
| The word “समकालीन” can also mean “same time period” or “same age” in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | समकालीन | ||
| In Sanskrit, the word "समकालीन" (samakālina) meant "occurring at the same time," but in modern Nepali, it has taken on the additional meaning of "contemporary," as in "of the present time". | |||
| Punjabi | ਸਮਕਾਲੀ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සමකාලීන | ||
| The word සමකාලීන (contemporary) in Sinhala is derived from the Sanskrit word 'samakalina', which means 'belonging to the same time'. | |||
| Tamil | சமகால | ||
| The ancient Tamil equivalent 'Samathaaram' referred not only to the chronological sense but also to the ethical sense of treating every one equally irrespective of time or status as per Tamil Sangam literature. | |||
| Telugu | సమకాలీన | ||
| Urdu | ہم عصر | ||
| **Urdu:** 'ہم عصر' originates from Persian and literally means 'of the same epoch', hence the translation as 'contemporary' in English. | |||
Contemporary in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 当代的 | ||
| 当代的”的英文单词“contemporary”源自拉丁语“contempus”，意为“同时”。 | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 當代的 | ||
| 「當代的」源自拉丁語「contempus」，意指「同時代的」或「一起存在的」。 | |||
| Japanese | コンテンポラリー | ||
| The word "contemporary" in Japanese is derived from "コンテンポラリ", which is short for "contemporarius", meaning "belonging to the present time" in Latin. | |||
| Korean | 동시대의 | ||
| 동시대를 살고 계시거나 하는 경우는 동시대인을 의미하기도 함 | |||
| Mongolian | орчин үеийн | ||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ခေတ်ပြိုင် | ||
Contemporary in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | kontemporer | ||
| In Indonesian, "kontemporer" also means "modern" or "up-to-date". | |||
| Javanese | kontemporer | ||
| Kontemporer can also mean "peer" or "friend" in Javanese. | |||
| Khmer | សហសម័យ | ||
| The word សហសម័យ can also refer to the same time period or era, emphasizing coexistence rather than contrast. | |||
| Lao | ປະຈຸບັນ | ||
| ปัจจุบัน comes from the Thai word ปัจจุบัน, which in turn comes from the Pali word paccuppannam, which means "present time." | |||
| Malay | kontemporari | ||
| The Malay word "kontemporari" also means "present day" or "current". | |||
| Thai | ร่วมสมัย | ||
| The Thai word "ร่วมสมัย" also means "synchronous" or "simultaneous". | |||
| Vietnamese | đồng thời | ||
| The word 'đồng thời' literally means 'the same time' in Vietnamese. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | magkapanabay | ||
Contemporary in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | çağdaş | ||
| "Çağdaş" sözünün kökeni "çağ" sözüdür ve "aynı dönemde yaşayan" anlamına gelir. | |||
| Kazakh | заманауи | ||
| The word зaмaнaуи in Kazakh (contemporary) originally meant "modern" or "current". | |||
| Kyrgyz | заманбап | ||
| The word "заманбап" in Kyrgyz is derived from Arabic and literally means "of the present time". | |||
| Tajik | муосир | ||
| The word "муосир" is derived from the Arabic word "عاصر" (meaning "lived at the same time") and is used in Tajik to refer to someone who is living in the present time. | |||
| Turkmen | häzirki zaman | ||
| Uzbek | zamonaviy | ||
| The word "zamonaviy" in Uzbek is derived from the Persian word \“zamana" meaning "time", and can also refer to modern or up-to-date. | |||
| Uyghur | ھازىرقى زامان | ||
Contemporary in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | wā hou | ||
| The word "wā hou" also means "new time" or "later time" in Hawaiian. | |||
| Maori | nāianei | ||
| The Maori word `nāianei` is an altered version of the original `nānaianei`, which has several meanings including 'now' and 'immediately'. | |||
| Samoan | taimi nei | ||
| Taimi nei translates to "nowadays" and is more specific than using the word "aso" for a particular current day of the week. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | magkapanabay | ||
| "Magkapanabay" in Tagalog originally referred to people who share the same age as a reference point. | |||
Contemporary in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | mitani | ||
| Guarani | ko'ag̃aguáva | ||
Contemporary in International Languages
| Esperanto | nuntempa | ||
| The word "nuntempa" in Esperanto is derived from the Latin word "nunc", meaning "now", and is also related to the word "tempus", meaning "time". | |||
| Latin | aetatis | ||
| In Latin, "aetatis" denotes both "contemporaneous" and "chronological age". | |||
Contemporary in Others Languages
| Greek | σύγχρονος | ||
| The word 'σύγχρονος' ('contemporary') derives from the Greek words 'συν' (together) and 'χρόνος' (time), implying a connection between two or more simultaneous events. | |||
| Hmong | tiam no | ||
| Tiam no literally means "year now" in the Hmong language. | |||
| Kurdish | hemdem | ||
| The word "hemdem" also means "intimate friend" or "companion" in Kurdish. | |||
| Turkish | çağdaş | ||
| In Turkish, "çağdaş" can be used to refer to someone or something that is modern or up-to-date, but it also has another meaning: "equal in age". | |||
| Xhosa | wangoku | ||
| In Xhosa, "wangoku" also means "a little while ago". | |||
| Yiddish | היינטצייטיק | ||
| The Yiddish word 'היינטצייטיק' ('heyntsaytik') is derived from the German word 'Gegenwart' ('present time'). | |||
| Zulu | wesimanje | ||
| Wesimanje derives from "isimanje", meaning "world", and "umkhosi", meaning "festival", suggesting a sense of communal unity and celebration. | |||
| Assamese | সমসাময়িক | ||
| Aymara | mitani | ||
| Bhojpuri | समकालीन | ||
| Dhivehi | ކޮންޓެމްޕޮރަރީ | ||
| Dogri | समकाली | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | magkapanabay | ||
| Guarani | ko'ag̃aguáva | ||
| Ilocano | kotemporario | ||
| Krio | da tɛm de | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | هاوچەرخ | ||
| Maithili | समकालीन | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯥꯟꯅꯕ ꯃꯇꯝꯒꯤ | ||
| Mizo | inrualtlang | ||
| Oromo | kan yeroo tokko keessa waliin turan | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସମସାମୟିକ | | ||
| Quechua | musuqllaña | ||
| Sanskrit | समकालीन | ||
| Tatar | заманча | ||
| Tigrinya | ወቕታዊ | ||
| Tsonga | nkarhi wun'we | ||