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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

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Etymology

Origin of continental

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

continental Continental continentals

“By 1803, France and Spain had spent more than a century investing in their claims to the Mississippi basin, envisioning a continental empire,” Mr. Mikaberidze writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Together, the results revealed signatures consistent with continental arc magmatism, a geological process that occurs when one tectonic plate sinks beneath another, generating magma that can rise through the overlying continental crust.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

Whitney is the tallest mountain in the continental United States.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

Seven of those goals came in the Women's Champions League as Barcelona claimed a fourth continental title in six seasons.

From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026

In his popular and influential textbook Principles of Physical Geology, first published in 1944, Holmes laid out a continental drift theory that was in its fundamentals the theory that prevails today.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

The newly identified Azerbaijan Continental Magmatic Arc adds another important piece to that history.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

The Azerbaijan Continental Magmatic Arc offers new evidence for understanding the Late Cretaceous evolution of northwestern Iran and the larger Neo-Tethyan region.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

In Pennsylvania, the young man was mentored by another future Founder, John Dickinson, who would go on to serve in both Continental congresses and in the Constitutional Convention.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

American Samoa banned deep-sea mining in its territorial waters in 2024, but the auction concerns the federally controlled Outer Continental Shelf beyond that limit.

From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026

English mathematicians fell far behind their Continental counterparts when it came to developing calculus.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

"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

Spare a thought for the crazies the continentals are stuck with.

From Economist ● Jun. 1, 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

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