continuum

American  

[kuhn-tin-yoo-uhm] / kənˈtɪn ju əm /

noun

continua, plural continuums plural

1. a continuous extent, series, or whole.

2. 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.

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continuum British  

/ kənˈtɪnjʊəm /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• continua
  plural
• continuums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of continuum

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

Explanation

A continuum is something that keeps on going, changing slowly over time, like the continuum of the four seasons. In addition to meaning "a whole made up of many parts," continuum, pronounced "kon-TIN-yoo-um," can describe a range that is always present. For example, in a high school, at any time, there are students who are learning algebra, then advancing to geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. Just as the ninth graders master their particular math, they move on to the next one, as new ninth graders enter the school and the seniors graduate.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

continuum continua continuums

It restores Douglass to a living continuum of dissent rather than isolating him as an exceptional voice, and it underscores how fully the Fourth of July once accommodated, even invited, fierce moral criticism from within.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

Tamil Nadu has long been attuned to political theatrics, where cinema and power often blur into one continuum.

From BBC ● May 5, 2026

Pangram’s latest version now outputs scores on a continuum and is making genuine progress on these gray-zone instances, but those cases remain far less validated than the extremes.

From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2026

"It's not like all of a sudden, boom. It's more of a continuum," Chan said.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 9, 2026

In reality, all of those dates are merely attempts to label arbitrary points along a continuum.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Models based on continua, such as the intensity of the individual's experienced trauma and invalidation, genetic and temperamental vulnerability, etcetera, may be more accurate and useful.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 1, 2022

And the people who are pushing back against the right of trans people to exist are ignoring the science that says that there are continua of features, including behavioral expression and anatomical features.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2020

For reasons like these, Aristotle had argued that continua could not consist of indivisibles.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2014

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?

From A Librarian's Open Shelf by Bostwick, Arthur E.

I mean the continua of memory or personal consciousness, of time and of space.

From The Will to Believe : and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by James, William

Other cities receive federal funds and have continuums of care.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2022

The federal government had recommended these continuums of care since 1994, but not until the Hearth Act was funding tied to specific metrics of effectiveness.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2022

Currently, Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena have their own continuums of care and administer their own homeless counts and services for people on the streets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2022

What is up is down, and down is up, and truth and fiction cross into parallel continuums.

From Slate ● Feb. 5, 2019

For a minute he paused, wondering if there were other continuums or only this one, wondering just how deep the paradox lay.

From An Empty Bottle by Wolf, Mari

Related Words

• continuity