See Also: continent(2)(dictionary)
Continent(medicine)
continent(1)(dictionary)
continent(encyclopedia)
continent 2, adjective(dictionary)
continent 1, noun(dictionary)
Dark Continent(dictionary)
Continent - Sailing(gambling)
Continent ileostomy(health)
urinary reservoirs, continent(medicine)

continent(2) (iou)



continent noun. L15.
[In branches I & II from use as noun of Latin continent- (see CONTINENCE); branch I also infl. by the adjective In branch III corresp. to French continent, Italian continente, repr. ellipt. use of Latin terra continens continuous land.]
I.
A person who is continent in appetites; a person under a vow of continence. L15-E18.
II.
That which contains or holds something; fig. that which comprises or sums up something. Now rare. M16.
G. Macdonald Stealing from the significance of the content by the meretricious grandeur of the continent.
Containing area; capacity. Only in 17.
III.
A continuous tract of land. obsolete exc. as in sense 6 below. M16.
P. Erondelle That part of New France which is one Continent with Virginia.
b. Land as opp. to water; the earth. Only in L16.
c. The globe of the sun or moon. E-M17.
The main land, as distinguished from islands, peninsulas, etc.; mainland. Now chiefly in the Continent (of Europe), the mainland of Europe as distinct from the British Isles. L16.
Defoe It is not known whether that country be an island or the continent.
Any of the main continuous bodies of land (in Geology, continental crust) on the earth's surface (of which six are now recognizedEurope, Asia, Africa, N. and S. America, Australia, Antarctica). E17.
SUBCONTINENT. the Dark Continent: see DARK adjective.
fig.: Carlyle Continents of parchment. See also
US History. The colonies or states of America collectively, esp. at the time of the War of Independence. M18.