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• continent
  continent

  noun

  one of the main landmasses of the globe, usually reckoned as seven in number (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica).
• Continent
  Continent

  noun

  the mainland of Europe as distinguished from the British Isles

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continent

American  

[kon-tn-uhnt] / ˈkɒn tn ənt /

noun

• continents
  plural

1. one of the main landmasses of the globe, usually reckoned as seven in number (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica).

2. a comparable landmass on another planet.

3. the mainland, as distinguished from islands or peninsulas.

4. the Continent, the mainland of Europe, as distinguished from the British Isles.

5. a continuous tract or extent, as of land.

6. Archaic. something that serves as a container or boundary.

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adjective

1. exercising or characterized by restraint in relation to the desires or passions and especially to sexual desires; temperate.

2. able to control urinary and fecal discharge.

3. Obsolete. containing; being a container; capacious.

4. Obsolete. restraining or restrictive.

5. Obsolete. continuous; forming an uninterrupted tract, as land.

Continent ¹ British  

/ ˈkɒntɪnənt /

noun

1. the mainland of Europe as distinguished from the British Isles

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continent ² British  

/ ˈkɒntɪnənt /

adjective

1. able to control urination and defecation

2. exercising self-restraint, esp from sexual activity; chaste

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continent ³ British  

/ ˈkɒntɪnənt /

noun

1. one of the earth's large land masses (Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Antarctica)

2. that part of the earth's crust that rises above the oceans and is composed of sialic rocks. Including the continental shelves, the continents occupy 30 per cent of the earth's surface

3. obsolete

   1. mainland as opposed to islands

   2. a continuous extent of land

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continent Scientific  

/ kŏn′tə-nənt /

1. One of the seven great landmasses of the Earth. The continents are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• continence
  noun
• continental
  adjective
• uncontinent
  adjective
• continentally
  adverb
• continently
  adverb
• uncontinently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• continents
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of continent

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin continent-, stem of continēns “holding together,” present participle of continēre “to hold together, keep in position,” equivalent to con- con- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre “to hold”; see contain

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Explanation

A continent is one of the seven largest landmasses found on Earth. Asia, Australia, and Africa are three continents. Can you name the other four? Some folks forget the continent of Antarctica, because so few humans live there—none of them permanently. And you might be surprised how many people think that Africa is a country and not a continent. Due to a process known as continental drift, the extremely slow movement of the continents across the face of the globe, our world looks very different from the way it did 100 million years ago.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

continent Continent continents

ASML—Europe’s most valuable company—raised its guidance again on surging demand, lifting AI stocks on the continent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

However, the continent boasts many fabulous fossil finds, including those of the most familiar extinct animals – dinosaurs.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

F1 president Stefano Domenicali said the new contract was "a landmark moment for F1", which would mean the sport was racing "on every inhabited continent".

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

In its early years, the country bounded across a continent with the Louisiana Purchase, the annexation of Texas and the conquest of California.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

In 1820, a Russian Navy ship under the command of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen made the first circumnavigation and sighting of the continent.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

It would enable more European banks to compete globally and make the Continent a more attractive environment for foreign firms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

The heat is threatening harvests across the Continent, raising the spectre of soaring food prices.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Newcastle have shifted policy this summer, targeting younger players on the Continent, with Lukas Hornicek the club's oldest arrival by a reasonable distance at 24 years of age.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

European regulators are also feeling the heat, with the French start-up Mistral recently presenting in Brussels a 22-point plan to accelerate AI development on the Continent.

From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026

Perhaps a few weeks on the Continent, where she could put her sangfroid and multiple languages and wireless operator’s skills to much-needed use in Nazi-occupied France.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Behind those 12 games, however, lives a coaching journey spanning 23 years across many continents and a variety of roles.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

They’re continents, but they are only in maps that are very secret.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

The schnitzel sandwich at Miznon, a fast-casual chainlet with locations on four continents, is arguably the epitome of Israeli cuisine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Despite years of fieldwork across six continents, he said the area ranked among the most difficult environments he had ever worked in.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

With the occupation of the Americas, most habitable areas of the continents and continental islands, plus oceanic islands from Indonesia to east of New Guinea, supported humans.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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