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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

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, ˌkɒntɪˈnɛntəl /

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

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

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

Europe is the fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising at around twice the global average.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

At first they arrived from the continent – France, Italy and Spain – but now many are heading north on coolcations from within the UK as well.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

During the Miocene, a geological period that lasted for millions of years, a vast lake covered a large portion of the continent.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Intense heat and lack of rain have driven water levels across the continent to record lows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

If Shackleton did not reach the edge of the continent before the end of the short Antarctic summer, the ice would shut him out.

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

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

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

For short-term needs, the German military and others on the Continent will have to buy weapons that are available off-the-shelf.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 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

Stubb is one of the few European leaders who has maintained a close relationship with Trump, and his country has one of the strongest armed forces on the Continent and its longest border with Russia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

“This: Will the Great Continent hold two Orgoreyns?”

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

There would be a reduced schedule of 10 events a year, across five continents.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Until now, fossils associated with this group were known primarily from the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

Now, it is a symbol of the chasm that migration has opened between the two continents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Her reporting spans three presidential campaigns, four administrations and four continents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Island geological types include coral atolls, raised limestone, volcanic islands, pieces of continents, and mixtures of those types.

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