different between city vs continent

English

Alternative forms

• cyte (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English city, citie, citee, cite, from Old French cité, from Latin c?vit?s (“citizenry; community; a city with its hinterland”), from c?vis (“native; townsman; citizen”), from Proto-Indo-European *?ey- (“to lie down, settle; home, family; love; beloved”).

Cognate with Old English h?wan pl (“members of one's household, servants”). See hewe. Doublet of civitas.

Displaced native Middle English burgh, borough (“fortified town; incorporated city”) and sted, stede (“place, stead; city”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?ti/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /s?t?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?s??i/
• Rhymes: -?ti
• Hyphenation: ci?ty

Noun

city (plural cities)

1. A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.

   • So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
2. (Britain) A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.
   • 1976, Cornelius P. Darcy, The Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Lancashire, 1760-1860, Manchester University Press (?ISBN), page 20

     Manchester, incorporated in 1838, was made the centre of a bishopric in 1847 and became a city in 1853. Liverpool was transformed into a city by Royal Charter when the new diocese of Liverpool was created in 1880.

   • 2014, Graham Rutt, Cycling Britain's Cathedrals Volume 1, Lulu.com (?ISBN), page 307

     St Davids itself is the smallest city in Great Britain, with a population of less than 2,000.

3. (Australia) The central business district; downtown.

4. (slang) A large amount of something (used after the noun).

   It's video game city in here!

Hypernyms

• settlement

Derived terms

Pages starting with “city”.

Related terms

• civic
• civil

Descendants

• ? French: City
• ? German: City
• ? Italian: city
• ? Swedish: city

Translations

See also

• metropolis
• megalopolis
• megacity
• multicity

Further reading

• "city" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 55.

Anagrams

• ICTY

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t?s?t?]

Noun

city

1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of cit

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English city. Doublet of città.

Noun

city f (invariable)

1. city (financial district of a city)

Derived terms

• city bike
• city car
• city manager

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English city.

Pronunciation

Noun

city n

1. inner city, the commercial centre of a medium-sized or larger city

   Lite närmare city, i närheten av konstmuseet, ligger Norrköpings mest attraktiva lägenheter.

   A little closer to the town centre, next to the art museum, you'll find Norrköping's most attractive apartments.

   Det finns mycket att förbättra i vårt city.

   There are many things that need improvement in our inner city.

Usage notes

• centrum is used for the commercial centre of suburbs and small or medium-sized towns.

Synonyms

• centrum
• innerstad

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?k?nt?n?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k?nt?n?nt/, /?k?nt?n?nt/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin contin?ntem, noun use of present participle of contin?re (“to contain”).

Noun

continent (plural continents)

1. Each of the main continuous land-masses on the earth's surface, now generally regarded as seven in number, including their related islands, continental shelves etc.
2. (obsolete in general sense) A large contiguous landmass considered independent of its islands, peninsulas etc. Specifically, the Old World continent of Europe–Asia–Africa. See the Continent.
3. (obsolete) Land (as opposed to the water).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.v:

     The carkas with the streame was carried downe, / But th'head fell backeward on the continent.

Hyponyms

• Africa
• America
• Antarctica
• Asia
• Australia
• Europe
• Eurasia
• Gondwana
• Laurasia
• North America
• Oceania
• Pangaea
• South America

Derived terms

• the Continent
• continental
• supercontinent

Translations

See also

• (continents) continent; Africa, America, Antarctica, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America ^{(Category: en:Continents)}

Etymology 2

From Middle English contynent, from Old French continent, from Latin continentem (“continuous; holding together”), present participle of contin?re (“to contain”).

Adjective

continent (comparative more continent, superlative most continent)

1. Exercising self-restraint; controlled, temperate with respect to one's bodily needs or passions, especially sex, urination and/or defecation.
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 119:

     A celibate himself, he was of the opinion that marriage was something of a concession to human frailty, to save from fornication those who could not be continent, so it was better to marry than to burn with lust.

2. Not interrupted; connected; continuous.
   • 1843, John McIntosh, The Origin of the North American Indians

     The northeast part of Asia is, if not continent with the west side of America, yet certainly it is the least disjoined by sea of all that coast.

3. (obsolete) Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing.

Antonyms

• incontinent

Translations

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin contin?ns.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /kon.ti?nent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /kun.ti?nen/

Noun

continent m (plural continents)

1. continent

Related terms

• continental

See also

• (continents) continent; Àfrica,? Amèrica,? Antàrtida,? Àsia,? Oceania,? Europa/?Nord-amèrica,? Amèrica del Nord/?Sud-amèrica,? Amèrica del Sud ^{(Category: ca:Continents) [edit]}

Further reading

• “continent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “continent” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “continent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “continent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?n.ti?n?nt/
• Hyphenation: con?ti?nent
• Rhymes: -?nt

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French continent, from Latin contin?ns.

Noun

continent n (plural continenten)

1. continent (landmass)

Synonyms

• werelddeel

Derived terms

• subcontinent

Descendants

• ? Indonesian: kontinen

Etymology 2

Ultimately from Latin contin?ns. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Adjective

continent (not comparable)

1. (chiefly medicine) continent
2. (obsolete) continent, morally restrained

Inflection

Related terms

• incontinent

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin continens, continentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.ti.n??/

Noun

continent m (plural continents)

1. continent

Derived terms

• continental
• sous-continent

Related terms

• contenir

Descendants

• Antillean Creole: kontinan
• Haitian Creole: kontinan
• ? Romanian: continent

Further reading

• “continent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Verb

continent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of contine?

Middle French

Adjective

continent m (feminine singular continente, masculine plural continens, feminine plural continentes)

1. continent (exercising restraint)

   Antonym: incontinent

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin contin?ns.

Noun

continent m (plural continents)

1. continent

Related terms

• continental

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin continens and/or from French continent.

Noun

continent n (plural continente)

1. continent

Declension

Related terms

• continental
• con?ine