Word.ws English Dictionary

continence

/ˈkɒntɪnəns/

continence noun: the voluntary control of urination and defecation.

Noun

continence (usually uncountable, plural continences)

  1. (usually) The voluntary control of urination and defecation.
    • To maintain continence, the puborectalis muscle chokes the anal canal. The sling of tissue is supposed to release during defecation. Mine has not been doing that.2022 October 2, Cara Schacter, “My Year of Stress and Constipation”, in The New York Times
  2. (usually) Moderation or self-restraint, especially in sexual activity; abstinence.
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:continence.
    • He knew what to say; he knew also, when to leave off, — a continence which is practised by few writers.1700, [John] Dryden, “Preface”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  3. (usually) Uninterrupted course; continuity.
    • the Continence of the Cause should be divided1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or, A Commentary, by Way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England. […], London: […] D. Leach, and sold by John...

continence meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Kannada

continence in Hindi

continence; devotion
ज़ोहद zohad

continence in Tamil

காமமடக்கல், கட்டுப்பட்ட, தன்னடக்கம், புலனடக்கல், முகமலர்ச்சி

continence in Urdu

پرہیز

continence in Kannada

ಸಂಯಮ, ಇಂದ್ರಿಯ ನಿಗ್ರಹ

Synonyms of continence

Antonyms

Forms of continence

pluralcontinences
alternative formcontinency

Origin of continence

Dated from the 14th century as Middle English contynence, from Old French continence, from Latin continentia (“a repression”). See also countenance.

Questions about continence

What does continence mean?
Continence means the voluntary control of urination and defecation.
What is continence in Hindi?
Continence in Hindi is ज़ोहद (zohad). See Continence meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is continence?
Continence is a noun.
How do you pronounce continence?
Continence is pronounced /ˈkɒntɪnəns/.
What is the plural of continence?
The plural of continence is continences.

Words near continence in the dictionary

  1. contiguous
  2. contiguous 48
  3. contiguous United States
  4. contiguously
  5. contiguousness
  6. continence
  7. continences
  8. continencies
  9. continency
  10. continent
  11. continent of stability

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: continence (page history and authors); ज़ोहद (Hindi) (page history and authors); continence (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); continence (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); continence (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-continence.wav.

Cite this entry: “continence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/continence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.