continuum

[kuh n-tin-yoo-uh m]

noun, plural con·tin·u·a

[kuh n-tin-yoo-uh] /kənˈtɪn yu ə/.

a continuous extent, series, or whole.
Mathematics.
1. a set of elements such that between any two of them there is a third element.
2. the set of all real numbers.
3. any compact, connected set containing at least two elements.

Origin of continuum

1640–50; < Latin, noun use of neuter of continuus continuous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for continua

continuity, continuance, perpetuity, sequence, continuing

Examples from the Web for continua

Historical Examples of continua

Then she's right, because events in the two continua are the same.
The Right Time
Walter Bupp
Celui-ci continua mon travail de correction et d'émendation.
Oscar Wilde
Arthur Ransome
The notion thus introduced may be adapted by suitable modifications to continua of lower dimensions in Cn.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3
Various
The locus may largely consist of continua of imaginary points; but the real parts of it constitute a real curve or real curves.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 6
Various
We are now in a position to ask the question: Is the matter in a mixture of two continua identical with that of its constituents?
A Librarian's Open Shelf
Arthur E. Bostwick

British Dictionary definitions for continua

continuum

noun plural -tinua (-ˈtɪnjʊə) or -tinuums

a continuous series or whole, no part of which is perceptibly different from the adjacent parts

Word Origin for continuum

C17: from Latin, neuter of continuus continuous

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 continua

continuum

1640s, from Latin continuum "a continuous thing," neuter of continuus (see continue). The plural is continua.