continent
[kon-tn-uh nt]
- one of the main landmasses of the globe, usually reckoned as seven in number (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica).
- a comparable landmass on another planet.
- the mainland, as distinguished from islands or peninsulas.
- the Continent, the mainland of Europe, as distinguished from the British Isles.
- a continuous tract or extent, as of land.
- Archaic. something that serves as a container or boundary.
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- exercising or characterized by restraint in relation to the desires or passions and especially to sexual desires; temperate.
- able to control urinary and fecal discharge.
- Obsolete. containing; being a container; capacious.
- Obsolete. restraining or restrictive.
- Obsolete. continuous; forming an uninterrupted tract, as land.
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Origin of continent
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
estatesoilterrainhomeearthcontinentgroundplotdistrictareafieldhomelandterritorybeachprovinceparcelcountrysideacreagetractnationExamples from the Web for continents
Contemporary Examples
When the artist themselves is often continents away, those artistic decisions are made by the artisan.
With an unprecedented epidemic spreading across countries and continents, including our own, it should give us reason, too.
In the seven months since the epidemic began, Ebola has spread across borders, countries, and now continents.
Mars has no tectonic plates—no continents, in other words—and no ginormous moon.
I ended up an investment banker at J.P. Morgan & Co, eventually serving as a managing director on three continents.
Historical Examples
The open sea, of the existence of which we are certified, must wash the shores of continents.
The Field of IceJules Verne
It was natural to distinguish the two continents as South and North America.
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
Bitter wars have been fought in Europe for colonial 160 supremacy in other continents.
Mountain MeditationsL. Lind-af-Hageby
They overrun the seven continents and their respective seas.
Rosinante to the Road AgainJohn Dos Passos
The continents of the world have become vast, uninhabitable deserts.
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
continent1
- one of the earth's large land masses (Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Antarctica)
- 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
- obsolete
- mainland as opposed to islands
- a continuous extent of land
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Word Origin
C16: from the Latin phrase terra continens continuous land, from continēre; see contain
continent2
- able to control urination and defecation
- exercising self-restraint, esp from sexual activity; chaste
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin continent-, present participle of continēre; see contain
Continent
- the Continent the mainland of Europe as distinguished from the British Isles
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for continents
continent
adj.
late 14c., "self-restraining," from Old French continent and directly from Latin continentem (nominative continens) "holding together, continuous," present participle of continere "hold together" (see contain). Meaning moved from "exercising self-restraint" to "chaste" 14c., and to bowel and bladder control 19c.
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continent
n.
"large land mass," 1550s, from continent land (mid-15c.), translating Latin terra continens "continuous land," from continens, present participle of continere (see continent (adj.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
continent
[kŏn′tə-nənt]
- 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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
continents
The large parts of the surface of the Earth that rise above sea level. The seven major continents are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.
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Note
Continents are made from the lightest rocks in the Earth. Some of these are also the oldest known rocks on Earth, with an age of 3.5 billion years, measured by radioactive dating.
Note
According to the theory of plate tectonics, continents move along piggy-back on the tectonic plates like rafts floating on water.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.