continent

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɒntɪnənt/ (UK); /ˈkɑntɪnənt/, /ˈkɑnt(ə)nənt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English, borrowed from Old French continent and directly from Latin continēns, continentem, holding together, continuous,^[2][3] present participle of continēre, to hold together, restrain, contain (see contain),^[2][3][4] from com-, together, and tenēre, to hold (from Proto-Indo-European *ten-, to stretch).^[3] The geographical noun is from the phrase terra continēns, continuous land.^[5][6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Self-restrained, temperate, especially in sexual matters: before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective was used of chastity from 1398,^[7] and in medicine of control over one's excretory functions from 1941.^[7] The noun, that which is contained, is from about 1425.^[2] Continent land, continuous land, is from the mid-15th century,^[3] and the noun, a continuous tract of land, from 1559 (the 1550s),^[2][3][5] extended by the sense of the mainland.^[2] One of the great land masses of the globe is from the 1610s.^[3] The Continent, the mainland of Europe as seen from Britain, is a later use.^[3][8]

Timeline

• before 1382 – self-restrained (adjective).^[2]
• 1398 – chaste.^[7]
• mid-15th century – continent land.^[3]
• 1559 – a continuous tract of land.^[2]
• 1610s – one of the great land masses.^[3]
• 1941 – able to control the bladder and bowels.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. One of the principal land masses of the earth, such as Africa, Asia or Europe.
2. (the Continent) The mainland of Europe, as distinct from Britain.

Adjective

1. Exercising self-restraint, especially sexual.
2. (medicine) Able to control the bladder and bowels.

Word family

• continently
• protocontinent
• continental
• subcontinent
• supercontinent
• uncontinent

Related words

• continence
• contain
• continue
• incontinent

Usage notes

In the west of Ireland, the continent was used for the mainland of Ireland as seen from the Aran Islands.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)