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 regarded 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)}

Translations

each of main land-masses on earth's surface

• Antillean Creole: kontinan
• Arabic: قارة (ar) (qārra) f

  Egyptian Arabic: قارة (qārra) f

• Armenian: մայրցամաք (hy) (mayrc'amak')
• Assamese: please add this translation if you can
• Azeri: qitə (az)
• Basque: kontinente (eu)
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Breton: kevandir (br) m
• Bulgarian: континент (bg) (kontinent) m
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• 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
• Galician: continente (gl) m
• German: Kontinent (de) m, Erdteil (de) m
• Greek: ήπειρος (el) (ípeiros) f
• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Hebrew: יבשת (yabeshet) f
• Hindi: महाद्वीप (hi) (mahādvīp)
• 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)
• Jèrriais: continnent m
• Khmer: ទ្វីប (km) (tviip)
• Korean: 대륙 (ko) (daeryuk) (大陸)
• Latvian: kontinents (lv) m
• Lithuanian: žemynas (lt) m, kontinentas (lt) m
• Macedonian: континент (mk) (kontinént) m
• Malay: benua (ms)
• Malayalam: ഭൂഖണ്ഡം (ml) (bhūkhaṇḍam), വന്‍കര (ml) (vankara)
• Maori: tuawhenua (mi)
• Mizo: khawmualpui
• Norwegian: kontinent (no) n
• Novial: kontinente
• Persian: قاره (fa) (ghâreh)
• Polish: kontynent (pl) m
• Portuguese: continente (pt) m
• Russian: континент (ru) (kontinént) m, материк (ru) (materík) m
• Sindhi: کَنڊُ (sd) (kandu) m
• Slovak: svetadiel (sk) m, kontinent (sk) m
• Slovene: celina (sl) f, kontinent (sl) m
• Spanish: continente (es) m
• Swahili: bara (sw)
• Swedish: kontinent (sv)
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Telugu: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: kıta (tr)
• Vietnamese: đại lục (vi) (大陸)
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: cyfandir (cy) m
• Yiddish: please add this translation if you can

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) (umeren), сдържан (bg) (sdǎržan)
• Mizo: insum, insumthei
• 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 (plural continenten)

1. continent

Synonyms

• werelddeel

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

continent m (plural continents)

1. continent

Derived terms

• continental
• sous-continent

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Latin

Verb

continent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of contineō

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Middle French

Adjective

continent m (feminine singular continente, masculine plural continens, feminine plural continentes)

1. continent (exercising restraint)

Antoynyms

• incontinent

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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