continent

noun

One of the main continuous landmasses, separated by water or geological features, on the surface of a planet, sometimes including its continental shelves and the islands on them.

Each of the traditional main regions into which the Earth’s land surface is divided, including both an extent of mainland and various conventionally associated islands, etc; namely, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australasia/Oceania, North America, South America, and Antarctica.

(figurative) A large connected expanse of something in general.

(UK, Ireland) Mainland Europe, as seen from the British Isles.

An Encratite.

(obsolete in general sense) A large contiguous landmass as opposed to its islands, peninsulas, and so forth; mainland. Also specifically, the Old World continent of Europe–Asia–Africa: see the Continent.

(obsolete) Any continuous tract or area of land; country, connected region.

(obsolete) Land (as opposed to the water), dry land.

(obsolete) The body or mass of a celestial body such as the sun or moon.

(obsolete) Container, vessel, something that holds or contains something else.

(obsolete) Space, capacity.

(obsolete) The principal or essential points of something viewed collectively: sum, summary, substance.

(obsolete) The Old World.

adjective

Exercising self-restraint; controlled, temperate with respect to one’s bodily needs or passions, especially sex.

Having voluntary control over one’s urination or defecation.

(obsolete) Not interrupted; connected; continuous, whether in time or space.

(obsolete) Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing.

(obsolete) Containing or capable of containing.

Roots

teneotin- · Latin · hold

Synonyms for continent

landmassn antipodesn occidentn

Synonyms & related words for continent

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Words related to continent

Explore words related to continent — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include continently, continentally, countries, continental, subcontinent, supercontinent, subcontinental, epicontinental. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for continent

Common synonyms for continent include landmass, antipodes, occident — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does continent come from?

The word continent breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root tin-, from Latin teneo (“hold”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.