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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

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, 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 ² British  

/ ˈkɒntɪnənt /

noun

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

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continent ³ British  

/ ˈkɒntɪnənt /

adjective

1. able to control urination and defecation

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

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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

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

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

Deputy CEO Giulio Terzariol says the continent benefits from structural risk aversion and strict capital buffers.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

Africa CDC warned that other countries on the continent - namely Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia - are at risk from an outbreak.

From BBC • May 25, 2026

Since May 1, Beijing has removed tariffs on all goods from 53 of 54 African nations in an effort to win business and influence across the continent.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 23, 2026

On Saturday, the African Union's health agency warned that more countries on the continent were at risk of being affected by the Ebola virus, in addition to the DRC and Uganda.

From Barron's • May 23, 2026

When Europeans arrived on this continent, they often seemed unaware that many conditions that were useful to them were the result of Indigenous peoples’ stewardship of the land.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz