Phrase guide

contemporanea expositio

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Legal opinions set forth at the time a document was written.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The doctrine that the legal opinions of the time a document was written should be used to interpret laws in preference to more modern formulations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin contemporanea expositio (“that which was said at the time”). Part of the expression contemporanea expositio est optima et fortissima, in lege ("contemporaneous explanation is best and strongest in law").