Etymologically
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continuous

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kənˈtɪn.juː.əs/, /-(j)ɪu̯.əs/[1]

Etymology

It is French continueus or directly borrowed from Latin continuus (“joining, connecting; uninterrupted”) and -ous,[2][3][4][5] from continēre (“to hang together”) (see contain), from con- (“together”) and tenēre (“to hold”).[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Characterized by continuity: the 1640s in Etymonline, a figurative use in 1642 in the OED;[2][6] extending in space without a break, 1673.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Uninterrupted in time or sequence, of actions and immaterial things, is from 1751.[6] In grammar, a continuous tense or aspect expresses ongoing action (1887).[6] Continuous assessment of pupils' work is from 1959.[6] In mathematics, a continuous function has no breaks.[7] Collins and other dictionaries distinguish continuous, without interruption, from continual, happening repeatedly.[7]

Timeline

  • 1642 – figuratively, continuing.[6]
  • 1673 – unbroken in space.[6]
  • 1751 – uninterrupted in time.[6]
  • 1887 – in grammar.[6]
  • 1959 – continuous assessment.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Going on without interruption or break.
  2. Forming an unbroken whole: a continuous line.
  3. (grammar) Of a verb form, expressing an action in progress; progressive.

Word family

  • continuously
  • continuousness
  • semicontinuous
  • uncontinuous
  • continuous wave
  • continuous function

Usage notes

Continuous means without a pause, while continual usually means happening repeatedly with breaks in between.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin