different between continuous vs continent

English

Etymology

From Latin continuus, from contine? (“hold together”). Displaced native Old English singal.

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?n-t?n?yo?o-?s, IPA^(key): /k?n?t?n.ju?.?s/

Adjective

continuous (not comparable)

1. Without stopping; without a break, cessation, or interruption.

   Synonyms: perpetual, nonstop, incessant, ongoing; see also Thesaurus:continuous

   Antonyms: broken, discontinuous, discrete, intermittent, interrupted

   • 1847, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: a tale of Acadie, Ticknor and Fields (1854), page 90:

     he can hear its continuous murmur

2. Without intervening space; continued.

   Synonyms: protracted, extended, connected, continued, unbroken

   Antonyms: broken, disconnected, disjoint

3. (botany) Not deviating or varying from uniformity; not interrupted; not joined or articulated.
4. (mathematical analysis, of a function) Such that, for every x in the domain, for each small open interval D about f(x), there's an interval containing x whose image is in D.
5. (mathematics, more generally, of a function between two topological spaces) Such that each open set in the target space has an open preimage (in the domain space, with respect to the given function).

6. (grammar) Expressing an ongoing action or state.

Usage notes

• Continuous is stronger than continual. It denotes that the continuity or union of parts is absolute and uninterrupted, as in a continuous sheet of ice, or a continuous flow of water or of argument. So Daniel Webster speaks of "a continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England." By contrast, continual usually marks a close and unbroken succession of things, rather than absolute continuity. Thus we speak of continual showers, implying a repetition with occasional interruptions; we speak of a person as liable to continual calls, or as subject to continual applications for aid.

Derived terms

• continuous brake
• continuous impost
• continuously
• continuousness

Related terms

• contain
• continuity
• continued
• continuum

Translations

See also

• constant
• contiguous

References

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