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• continental
  continental

  adjective

  of or of the nature of a continent.
• Continental
  Continental

  adjective

  of or characteristic of Europe, excluding the British Isles

continental

American  

[kon-tn-en-tl] / ˌkɒn tnˈɛn tl /

adjective

1. of or of the nature of a continent.

2. (usually initial capital letter) of or relating to the mainland of Europe, to Europeans, or to European customs and attitudes.

3. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the 13 original American colonies during and immediately after the American Revolution.

4. of or relating to the continent of North America.

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noun

• continentals
  plural

1. (initial capital letter) a soldier of the Continental Army in the American Revolution.

2. a piece of paper currency issued by the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.

3. a small amount.

   advice that's not worth a continental.

4. an inhabitant of a continent.

5. (usually initial capital letter) an inhabitant of the mainland of Europe.

Continental British  

/ ˌkɒntɪˈnɛntəl /

adjective

1. of or characteristic of Europe, excluding the British Isles

2. of or relating to the 13 original British North American colonies during and immediately after the War of American Independence

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noun

1. (sometimes not capital) an inhabitant of Europe, excluding the British Isles

2. a regular soldier of the rebel army during the War of American Independence

3. history a currency note issued by the Continental Congress

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Continentalism
  noun
• Continentalist
  noun
• noncontinental
  adjective
• precontinental
  adjective
• continentally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• continentals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of continental

First recorded in 1750–60; continent + -al ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

continental Continental continentals

“The oceans are rising with each passing year. As that water becomes warmer, it thermally expands. More of the continental ice sheets melt. And it raises the sea level,” Swain said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Buenos Aires argues that the arrangement breaches Argentine law, which prohibits the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons on its continental shelf without government authorization.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Our continental nation is blessed with good neighbors and big oceans, and most violence is constrained through ordered liberty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

"We're excited about this result from Dr. Rajaonarison's numerical modeling because it provides new information about the complex processes that shape the Earth's surface through continental rifting," Stamps said.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026

All these effects that continental differences in area, population, ease of diffusion, and onset of food production exerted on the rise of technology became exaggerated, because technology catalyzes itself.

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

Continental rifting happens when Earth's rigid outer shell begins to stretch and thin.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026

George Washington and the Continental Congress hoped to sever French-speaking eastern Quebec from the rest of British Canada and bring it into the war as a 14th rebel colony.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

More than a month after returning to the Continental Divide Trail, my mom came down with a severe stomach virus, which my father caught a few days later.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

That raises the spectre of both supply difficulties and prices remaining well above pre-crisis levels, just as colder Continental weather drives up demand.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

Still, so many soldiers in the Continental army fell during the epidemic that revolutionary leaders feared that the disease would bring an end to their revolt.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

"If you don't do this and let the continentals get ahead, then they will start to undermine the cement ... which is clearing, settlement and transactions," Hodson said.

From Reuters ● Sep. 2, 2021

Britain used to be seen by continentals as quirky and occasionally awkward - but reliably pragmatic on the economy.

From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2017

Even among continentals, the post-Brexit fall of the pound seems to have compensated for whatever affront they may have taken.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 2016

A complaint many continentals and Britons north of Oxford often make of those in between.

From Economist ● Oct. 19, 2012

The prejudice that islanders are supposed to learn from superior continentals wasn’t the sole reason why record-breaking Japanese pottery caused such a shock.

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

Related Words

• global
• multicultural