continentalism

American  

[kon-tn-en-tl-iz-uhm] / ˌkɒn tnˈɛn tlˌɪz əm /

noun

1. an attitude, expression, etc., characteristic of a continent, especially of Europe.

2. an attitude or policy of favoritism or partiality to a continent.

   American continentalism.

3. the belief or doctrine that the U.S. and Canada should merge into a North American nation, especially for mutual economic benefit.

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Other Word Forms

• continentalist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of continentalism

First recorded in 1850–55; continental + -ism

Example Sentences

Buell shows that though the Good Neighbor policy and U. S. pledges to Canada may seem simple continentalism in the Beard sense, they are actually world commitments in the modern world at war.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was the old bogey of continentalism in a new setting, and it took Mackenzie King twelve pages of Hansard to make his defence in the House.

From The Masques of Ottawa by Bridle, Augustus

A Canadian newspaperman once flippantly asked the late W. T. Stead: "What do you think about continentalism in North America?"

From The Masques of Ottawa by Bridle, Augustus