# continent

Pronunciation: say "KON-ti-nuhnt" US /ˈkɑntɪnənt/, UK /ˈkɒntɪnənt/

## Noun

1. Any of the traditional main divisions of the Earth's land surface, each a mainland with its conventionally associated islands.
   - Simple: One of the seven main land areas of the Earth, such as Africa, Asia, or Europe.
   - _Antarctica is the only continent with no permanent human population._
   - _Medieval trade routes once linked markets across three continents._
2. One of the principal continuous landmasses on a planet's surface, separated from others by water or geological features, sometimes taken to include its continental shelves and their islands.
   - Simple: A very large area of land on a planet, with water or other natural features around it.
   - _Plate movements slowly carried the continents apart over hundreds of millions of years._
   - _Mars has vast highland regions that some scientists compare to a continent on Earth._
5. A vast connected expanse or mass of anything, likened to a great landmass.
   - Simple: A very large connected area or amount of something.
   - _Beneath the surface of his calm replies lay a continent of grief._
   - _The novel opens onto a whole continent of forgotten family history._

## Adjective

3. Having voluntary control over one's bladder or bowels; able to regulate urination and defecation.
   - Simple: Able to control when urine or waste leaves your body.
   - _The patient remained continent after the surgery, to her doctors' relief._
   - _Nursing staff record whether each resident is continent or needs assistance._
4. Exercising self-restraint over one's bodily appetites or passions, especially sexual desire; temperate and controlled.
   - Simple: Able to control your own desires and not give in to them, especially about sex.
   - _Medieval clergy were expected to remain continent throughout their lives._
   - _He prided himself on being continent in food, drink, and speech alike._

## Noun

6. A large unbroken landmass considered apart from its islands and peninsulas; the mainland, especially the joined Old World landmass of Europe, Asia, and Africa. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The main body of land in a region, not the islands or pieces that stick out into the sea.
7. Any continuous tract or stretch of land; a country or connected region considered as a whole. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A stretch of connected land, like a country or region.
8. Dry land; the solid ground as distinct from sea, river, or flood. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Dry land, not the sea or other water.
12. The body or solid mass of a celestial object such as the sun or moon. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The main body or mass of something in the sky, like the sun or the moon.
   - _Through the new telescope, the continent of the moon showed mountains and shadowed plains._
   - _Comets seemed to pass before the very continent of the sun._
13. A container or vessel; anything that holds or encloses something else. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Something that holds or keeps another thing inside it.
   - _The apothecary kept each powder in its own glass continent._
   - _Poets called the body the continent of the soul._
14. Available space or room; the capacity of something to hold or admit. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The amount of space something has, or how much it can hold.
   - _The chamber's narrow continent could not receive so large a company._
   - _Sailors stowed the barrels wherever the hold offered continent._
15. The essential points of something considered together; the sum, summary, or substance. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The main points of something, taken together as a whole.
   - _The preface offered the continent of the whole argument in a single page._
   - _Her speech delivered the continent of the council's long deliberations._

## Adjective

9. Unbroken or uninterrupted; connected and continuous, whether through space or through time. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Joined together without a break, in space or in time.
   - _The chronicler records a continent fever that held the king for nine days._
   - _Hedgerows made one continent line of green across the valley._
10. Serving to restrain, limit, or hold something back; restraining or opposing in force or effect. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Working to hold something back or stop it.
   - _Dikes and continent banks held the river within its course._
   - _Stern laws proved a continent check upon the rioters._
11. Holding or containing something, or capable of doing so; able to receive and keep contents. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Able to hold or keep something inside it.
   - _The harbor was scarcely continent of so great a fleet._
   - _A cistern continent of rainwater stood behind the house._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 5–8, 12–15** — Borrowed from Latin continens, the noun use of the present participle of continēre ("to contain").
**Meanings 3–4, 9–11** — From Middle English contynent, from Old French continent, from Latin continentem ("continuous; holding together"), the present participle of continēre ("to contain").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/continent (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).