continent
UK/ˈkɒntɪnənt//ˈkɑntɪnənt/
continent noun: one of the main contiguous landmasses, separated by water or geological features, on the surface of a planet, sometimes including its continental shelves and the islands on them.
Noun (1)
continent (plural continents)
- One of the main contiguous landmasses, separated by water or geological features, on the surface of a planet, sometimes including its continental shelves and the islands on them.
- But I should turn mine ears and hear
The moanings of the homeless sea,
The sound of streams that swift or slow
Draw down Æonian hills, and sow
The dust of continents to be; […]1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 54
- But I should turn mine ears and hear
- 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.
- 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.
- No man is an Iland, intire of it ſelfe; euery man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; […]1624, John Donne, “17. Meditation”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, pages 415–416
- A large connected expanse of something in general.
- Any continuous tract or area of land; country, connected region.
- Land (as opposed to the water), dry land.
- The carkas with the streame was carried downe, / But th’head fell backeward on the continent.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- The body or mass of a celestial body such as the sun or moon.
- Container, vessel, something that holds or contains something else.
- Space, capacity.
- The principal or essential points of something viewed collectively: sum, summary, substance.
- […] Here's the scroll,
The continent and summary of my fortune.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- […] Here's the scroll,
Adjective
continent (comparative more continent, superlative most continent)
- Exercising self-restraint; controlled, temperate with respect to one’s bodily needs or passions, especially sex.
- Have a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes slower.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- Their strength was the strength of men geographically beyond temptation: the poverty of Arabia made them simple, continent, enduring.1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 219
- Having voluntary control over one’s urination or defecation.
- Not interrupted; connected; continuous, whether in time or space.
- a continent fever
- Affrike and Europe bordering on your land,
And continent to your Dominions: […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing.
- There did I ſee that low ſpirited Swaine, [...] hight Coſtard, (Clow[ne]. O mee) ſorted and conſorted contrary to thy eſtabliſhed proclaymed Edict and continent Cannon; Which with, o with, but with this I paſſion to ſay wherewith: / Clo[wne]. With a Wench.c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby...
- Have a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes slower.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- Containing or capable of containing.
Proper noun capitalized: Continent
the Continent
- The Old World.
- the whole Continent of Europe, Asia, Africa.1652, Peter Heylin, Cosmographie
- Mainland Europe, as seen from the British Isles.
Noun (2) capitalized: Continent
Continent (plural Continents)
- An Encratite.
continent meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
continent in Hindi
- each of main land-masses on earth's surface
- महाद्वीप mahādvīp, खंड khaṇḍ, भूखंड bhūkhaṇḍ, महादेश mahādeś
continent in Tamil
- each of main land-masses on earth's surface
- கண்டம் kaṇṭam
continent in Marathi
- each of main land-masses on earth's surface
- खंड khaṇḍa
continent in Urdu
- each of main land-masses on earth's surface
- بَرِّاَعْظَم barr-i-a'zam, قارَّہ qārra
More languagesFewer languages
- continent in Bengali
- মহাদেশ mohadeś
- continent in Telugu
- ఖండం khaṇḍaṁ, ఖండము khaṇḍamu
- continent in Malayalam
- ഭൂഖണ്ഡം bhūkhaṇḍaṁ, വൻകര vaṉkara
- continent in Kannada
- ಖಂಡ khaṇḍa
- continent in Punjabi
- ਮਹਾਂਦੀਪ mahāndīp
- continent in Gujarati
- ખંડ khaṇḍ, મહાદ્વીપ mahādvīp
- continent in Odia
- ମହାଦେଶ mahādeśa
- continent in Sanskrit
- द्वीप dvīpa, महाद्वीपा mahādvīpā
- continent in Sinhala
- මහාද්වීප mahādwīpa
- continent in Assamese
- মহাদেশ mohadex
- continent in Nepali
- महादेश mahādeś
- continent in Pashto
- قاره qāra
- continent in Tagalog
- kontinente, lupalop, sanlupain, mapagpigil
- continent in Arabic
- قَارَّة qārra
- continent in Malay
- benua
- continent in Indonesian
- benua, kontinen
- continent in Thai
- ทวีป tá-wîip
- continent in Vietnamese
- đại lục, châu lục, lục địa
- continent in Myanmar
- တိုက် tuik
- Sindhi
- کَنڊُ kandu
Examples of continent in a sentence
- There are hundreds of people from each continent in the convention but only a few dozen came from Africa.
- The actress was widely trolled online after accidentally revealing that she didn't know the names of the continents.
- Defaults in America's mortgage lending businesses are causing a ripple effect through the major banks in other continents.
Antonyms of continent
Forms of continent
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | continents |
| plural | Continents |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more continent |
| superlative | most continent |
Origin of continent
Borrowed from Latin continens, noun use of present participle of continēre (“to contain”).
From Middle English contynent, from Old French continent, from Latin continentem (“continuous; holding together”), present participle of continēre (“to contain”).
Words formed from continent
Phrases with continent
Questions about continent
- What does continent mean?
- Continent means one of the main contiguous landmasses, separated by water or geological features, on the surface of a planet, sometimes including its continental shelves and the islands on them.
- What is continent in Hindi?
- Continent in Hindi is महाद्वीप (mahādvīp), खंड (khaṇḍ), भूखंड (bhūkhaṇḍ). See Continent meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is continent?
- Continent can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce continent?
- Continent is pronounced /ˈkɒntɪnənt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of continent?
- The plural of continent is continents.
Words near continent in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: continent (page history and authors); Continent (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-continent.ogg.
Cite this entry: “continent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/continent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.