continuity

American  

[kon-tn-oo-i-tee, -tn-yoo] / ˌkɒn tnˈu ɪ ti, -tnˈju /

noun

continuities plural

1. the state or quality of being continuous.

2. a continuous or connected whole.

   Synonyms:

   progression, flow

3. a motion-picture scenario giving the complete action, scenes, etc., in detail and in the order in which they are to be shown on the screen.

4. the spoken part of a radio or television script that serves as introductory or transitional material on a nondramatic program.

5. Mathematics. the property of a continuous function.

6. Usually continuities. sets of merchandise, as dinnerware or encyclopedias, given free or sold cheaply by a store to shoppers as a sales promotion.

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continuity British  

/ ˌkɒntɪˈnjuːɪtɪ /

noun

1. logical sequence, cohesion, or connection

2. a continuous or connected whole

3. the comprehensive script or scenario of detail and movement in a film or broadcast

4. the continuous projection of a film, using automatic rewind

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncontinuity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• continuities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of continuity

1375–1425; late Middle English continuite < Anglo-French < Latin continuitās, equivalent to continu ( us ) continuous + -itās -ity

Explanation

Continuity has to do with how things happen over time: if there aren't any bumps or breaks and everything goes on continuously, then there's continuity. Continuity has to do with consistency. If you have the same Spanish teacher for several semesters, that's great continuity. If you have five different teachers in one year, that's awful continuity. In TV and movies, continuity involves keeping the plot and characters consistent from one scene to the next. It drives fans crazy when a character is allergic to peanuts in one episode, and then eats a peanut butter sandwich in the next one.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

continuity continuities

This establishes at least 1,000 years of cultural and genetic continuity in the region.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

“That does not mean we are cured. We are still in jeopardy of recurrence and require careful continuity of care monitoring by our out-of-state specialist.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

Those hoping to stay on have, unsurprisingly, been privately making the case for stability and continuity.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

“The U.S. has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch,'” historian Garrett Graff, an expert on continuity of government, told the Associated Press.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

The title was rambling, but the message was succinct: if you mixed the effects of three to five variant genes on any trait, you could generate nearly perfect continuity in phenotype.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The present war exhibits major continuities with the past.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026

And what I'm interested in, more broadly, is to emphasize these continuities.

From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2024

But—as other historians of the era’s continuing impact on American life has recently articulated—there are tremendous continuities between the New Deal and neoliberal stripes of capitalism.

From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2023

Two world wars, genocide, a new surveillance state: as German identity has been riven again and again by historical events in the last century, what continuities can we expect from its fiction?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2023

Failing thus, we ought to let the originally given continuities stand on their own bottom.

From Essays in Radical Empiricism by James, William

Related Words

• cohesion
• constancy
• continuum
• durability
• persistence
• stability
• stamina
• survival
• unity
• vitality