continuity

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French continuité, from Latin continuitās (“a connected series”),^[2][3][4][5] formed on continuus (“joining, following one after another”), the source of continuous, with the suffix that became -ity.^[2][6][7] The adjective comes from contineō (“to hold together; to be uninterrupted”), the verb behind contain.^[2] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1303.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

An uninterrupted connection of parts in space or time: early 15th century in Etymonline,^[2] late Middle English in the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English,^[9][3] and 1375–1425 in Dictionary.com.^[7] The OED's first quotation, of material things without breaks, is from 1543.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The phrase solution of continuity, an old medical term for a break such as a wound or fracture, is recorded from 1543,^[6][9] and Johnson (1755) quoted Bacon's use of it.^[10] From 1603 the word was applied to immaterial things, such as a sequence of events or ideas,^[6] and the law of continuity, that nothing in nature changes by sudden leaps, is recorded from 1753.^[6][9] A continuity could also be a connected whole or series (1601).^[6] In the American film industry, by 1919, the word meant the scenario that divides a story into scenes, and the work of keeping details consistent between shots filmed at different times;^[2][6] Etymonline notes that this was at first largely women's work.^[2] In broadcasting, from 1934, it meant the linking announcements between programmes.^[6][11]

Timeline

• early 15th century – uninterrupted connection in space or time.^[2]
• 1543 – solution of continuity, a break or wound.^[6]
• 1601 – a continuous whole or series.^[6]
• 1603 – of immaterial things, unbroken sequence.^[6]
• 1753 – law of continuity.^[6]
• 1919 – (film) a scenario; consistency between shots.^[2]
• 1934 – (broadcasting) linking announcements.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The state of being continuous or unbroken over time; lack of interruption: The new director promised continuity in the museum's policies.
2. A logical connection or coherence between parts; a connected whole or series.
3. (film and television) The keeping of details consistent from one shot or scene to the next; also, a detailed script or scenario.
4. (broadcasting) Announcements and material that link one programme to the next.

Word family

• noncontinuity
• discontinuity

Related words

• continue
• continual
• continuous
• contain

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins