Question

I fell into one of those online list rabbit holes and wasted nearly an hour reading about surprising things that are coeval, like the first fax machine and pioneers heading west on the Oregon Trail.

What does the word "coeval" mean in this context? Use these dictionary entries to answer the question:

co- (prefix) with, together

-ev (suffix) time period, era


happened at the same time


equally important in history


took place one after the other


occurred long ago

Answer 1

Coeval means "happened at the same time."

Breakdown of the parts you gave:
- co- = with, together
- -ev = time, era
So co + ev = "together in time" — i.e., contemporaneous. It does not mean "equally important," "one after the other," or "occurred long ago."