Definitions for continent
ˈkɒn tn əntcon·ti·nent

Princeton's WordNet(3.33 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. continentnoun

   one of the large landmasses of the earth

   "there are seven continents"; "pioneers had to cross the continent on foot"

2. Continentadjective

   the European mainland

   "Englishmen like to visit the Continent but they wouldn't like to live there"

3. continentadjective

   having control over urination and defecation

4. celibate, continentadjective

   abstaining from sexual intercourse

   "celibate priests"

Wiktionary(1.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Continentnoun

   An Encratite.

2. Continentnoun

   The Old World.

3. Continentnoun

   Mainland Europe, as seen from the British Isles.

4. Etymology: From continentem, noun use of present participle of continere.

Webster Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Continentadjective

   serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing

2. Continentadjective

   exercising restraint as to the indulgence of desires or passions; temperate; moderate

3. Continentadjective

   abstaining from sexual intercourse; exercising restraint upon the sexual appetite; esp., abstaining from illicit sexual intercourse; chaste

4. Continentadjective

   not interrupted; connected; continuous; as, a continent fever

5. Continentadjective

   that which contains anything; a receptacle

6. Continentadjective

   one of the grand divisions of land on the globe; the main land; specifically (Phys. Geog.), a large body of land differing from an island, not merely in its size, but in its structure, which is that of a large basin bordered by mountain chains; as, the continent of North America

7. Etymology: [L. continens, prop., a holding together: cf. F. continent. See Continent, a.]

Freebase(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Continent

   A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with up to seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. In geology, continents are described by means of tectonic plates. Plate tectonics is the process and study of the movement, collision and division of continents, earlier known as continental drift.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(2.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Continent

   kon′ti-nent, n. a large extent of land not broken up by seas: the mainland of Europe: one of the great divisions of the land surface of the globe.—adj. restraining the indulgence of pleasure, esp. sexual: temperate: virtuous.—ns. Con′tinence, Con′tinency, the restraint imposed by a person upon his desires and passions: self-restraint in sexual indulgence, often absolute: chastity.—adj. Continent′al, characteristic of a continent, as of climate, &c.: pertaining to the European continent, or to the colonies of North America at the period of independence.—n. Continent′alism, anything peculiar to the usage of the Continent.—adv. Con′tinently.—Continental system, the name given to Napoleon's plan for shutting out England from all commercial connection with Europe. [L. continentem—continēre, to contain—con, together, tenĕre, to hold.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. continent

   In geography, a large extent of land which is not entirely surrounded by water, or separated from other lands by the sea, as Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is also used in contradistinction to island, though America seems insulated.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Continent

   A defined and known area of land.

   There are many continents in the world.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 23, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Landmass

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'continent' in Nouns Frequency: #1894

How to pronounce continent?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say continent in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of continent in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of continent in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of continent in a Sentence

1. Viktor Orban:

   The migration crisis will determine the future of our political family, we are in a deep trouble. The migration crisis is able to destabilize governments, countries and the European continent.

2. Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate:

   When I was growing up in India, I was taught that if you are gifted with special talents, you don't own them. Those talents aren't yours, because they come to you straight from God. I was further advised to use those God-gifted talents for advancing society, by helping people who're in dire need. It's one of the most powerful teachings that I've inherited from my childhood in India. It constantly reminds me that Life is a give-and-take process; and that the more you give back to society, the more you'll receive from God. This interesting philosophy of life instills humility, and keeps my feet firmly on the ground; no matter which country or continent I live in. And I am thankful to my parents, who guided me with such invaluable lessons of life.

3. Robert E. Lee:

   That whole mentality of the Lost Cause started to seep into my life, it then became a point of retrospection and trying to figure out what is the point of all this ? Why are we celebrating this man who enslaved people and fought for the continued enslavement of Black people on this continent ?

4. Jonathan Faull:

   I hope it doesn't happen, we are working hard to try to make sure it doesn't happen, but there is no doubt that it would have very considerable consequences for our continent and for our union, some of those will perhaps be predictable and some of them will be unpredictable as Europe reacts to this new and unprecedented development.

5. Vitor Constancio:

   The unemployment rate in Europe is a very high 11 percent, which is destabilizing the continent, european values are being eroded as a result of the fear that unemployment creates.

Popularity rank by frequency of use