continent

See also Continent

English

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈkɒntɪnənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Latin continēntem, noun use of present participle of continēre (“to contain”).

Noun

continent (plural continents)

1. (obsolete) Land (as opposed to the water).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.v:

     The carkas with the streame was carried downe, / But th'head fell backeward on the continent.

2. (obsolete in general sense) A large contiguous landmass considered independent of its islands, peninsulas etc. Specifically, the Old World continent of Europe–Asia–Africa. See the Continent.
3. Each of the main continuous land-masses on the earth's surface, now generally redarded as seven in number, including their related islands, continental shelfs etc.

Derived terms

• the Continent
• continental
• supercontinent

See also

• (continents) continent; Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America ^{(Category: en:Continents) [edit]}

Translations

each of main land-masses on earth's surface

Arabic: قارة (ar) (qaarra) f. Armenian: մայրցամաք (hy) (mayrc'amak') Azeri: qitə (az) Basque: kontinente (eu) Breton: kevandir m. Bulgarian: континент (bg) m. Catalan: continent (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 大陸 (cmn), 大陆 (cmn) (dàlù) Czech: kontinent (cs) m., světadíl (cs) m. Danish: kontinent (da) Dutch: werelddeel (nl) n., continent (nl) n. Esperanto: kontinento (eo) Estonian: maailmajagu (et), manner (et) Faroese: heimspartur (fo) m. Finnish: maanosa (fi), manner (fi) French: continent (fr) m. German: Kontinent (de) m., Erdteil (de) m. Greek: ήπειρος (el) (ípeiros) f. Hebrew: יבשת (yabeshet) f. Hindi: महाद्वीप (hi) Hungarian: kontinens (hu), földrész (hu), világrész (hu) Icelandic: heimsálfa (is) f.

Indonesian: benua (id) Irish: mór-roinn (ga) f. Italian: continente (it) m. Japanese: 大陸 (ja) (たいりく, tairikú) Khmer: ទ្វីប (km) (tviip) Korean: 대륙 (ko) (daeryuk) (大陸) Latvian: kontinents m. Lithuanian: žemynas (lt) m., kontinentas (lt) m. Macedonian: континент (mk) (kontinént) m. Malayalam: ഭൂഖണ്ഡം (bhookhandam), വന്‍കര (van kara) Norwegian: kontinent (no) n. Novial: kontinente Persian: قاره (ghâreh) Polish: kontynent (pl) m. Portuguese: continente (pt) m. Russian: континент (ru) (kontinént) m., материк (ru) (materík) m. Sindhi: کَنڊُ (kandu) m. Slovene: celina (sl) f., kontinent (sl) m. Spanish: continente (es) m. Swahili: bara (sw) Swedish: kontinent (sv) Turkish: kıta (tr) Vietnamese: đại lục (vi) (大陸) Welsh: cyfandir (cy) m.

Hyponyms

• Africa
• America
• Antarctica
• Asia
• Australia
• Europe
• Eurasia
• Gondwana
• Laurasia
• North America
• Oceania
• Pangaea
• South America

Etymology 2

From Old French continent, from Latin continentem (“continuous; holding together”), present participle of continēre (“to contain”).

Adjective

continent (comparative more continent, superlative most continent)

1. Exercising self-restraint; controlled, temperate with respect to one's bodily needs or passions.
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 119:

     A celibate himself, he was of the opinion that marriage was something of a concession to human frailty, to save from fornication those who could not be continent, so it was better to marry than to burn with lust.

Antonyms

• incontinent

Translations

exercising continence

Bulgarian: умерен (bg), сдържан (bg) Norwegian: kontinent (no)

Telugu: ఖండము (te) (khanḍamu)

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Catalan

Noun

continent m. (plural continents)

1. continent

See also

• (continents) continent; Àfrica, Antàrtida, Àsia, Oceania, Europa, Amèrica del Nord/Nord-amèrica, Amèrica del Sud/Sud-amèrica ^{(Category: ca:Continents) [edit]}

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Dutch

Noun

continent n. (^??? please provide the plural and diminutive!)

1. continent

Synonyms

• werelddeel

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

continent m. (plural continents)

1. continent

Derived terms

• continental

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Latin

Verb

continent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of contineō

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Romanian

Etymology

From Latin continens, French continent.

Noun

continent n. (plural continente)

1. continent

Declension

declension of continent

	singular		plural
gender n.	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	un continent	continentul	niște continente	continentele
genitive/dative	unui continent	continentului	unor continente	continentelor

Related terms

• continental