Etymologically
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continuare

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 21 October 2026 at 19:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /kon.ti.nuˈa.re/, /kon.tiˈnwa.re/[1]

Forms

continuare (first-person singular present contìnuo, first-person singular past historic continuài, past participle continuàto, auxiliary (transitive or intransitive) avére or (alternatively when intransitive with a thing as subject) èssere)[1] Old texts also have Old Italian continovare, a form the modern dictionaries still list as archaic.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin continuō (“to join together; to carry on without a break”), a verb formed from the adjective continuus (“uninterrupted, continuous”).[5][6][7][8][9] Devoto calls the Latin verb a denominative of the adjective, and the Italian Wiktionary notes that its first sense was “to join”, from which “to prolong, go on” developed.[10][11] French continuer (12th century) and continuation (1283) were borrowed from the same Latin family, and DEI thinks the Old Italian noun continuanza may be a Gallicism.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Andrea da Grosseto's Tuscan translation of 1268, where the verb means to carry on an action without interruption.[2] DELI dates the transitive use, “to go on with something, with or without a break”, to Bono Giamboni before 1292, and the intransitive “not to stop, to last” to Dante's Convivio (1304–1308).[5][12]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb also meant “to join”, “to visit a place often” and “to use something continually”; these senses are now archaic.[7][8][4] Boccaccio has it for frequenting the street in front of a woman's house.[8][4] The form continovare was common in Florentine texts of the 14th century, in Matteo Villani and Tasso among others.[12][2]

The modern verb is transitive (with avere) and intransitive, with essere or avere when a thing is the subject.[1][8] Followed by a and an infinitive it means “to keep doing”, and used impersonally it describes weather that does not stop (continua a piovere).[7][3] In newspapers and magazines continua marks a text carried on to a later page or issue.[7][13][14] In anatomy the pronominal continuarsi says that one vessel or organ runs on into another.[8]

Timeline

  • 1268 – Andrea da Grosseto uses the verb in his translation.[2]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it transitively.[5]
  • 1304–1308 – Dante uses it intransitively in the Convivio.[5]
  • 14th century – continuamento, continuanza and continuato are recorded.[9]
  • 16th century – continuabile appears.[9]
  • 19th century – continuatore and continuabilità appear.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To continue or carry on an activity, or to resume it after a break: Dopo la pausa continuiamo la riunione.[7][13][3]
  2. (transitive, with a and an infinitive) To keep doing something: Il bambino continuava a ridere.[7][14]
  3. (transitive) To carry on work begun by someone else.[14][4]
  4. (intransitive) To last, not to stop: Lo sciopero continuerà fino a lunedì.[7][13][8]
  5. (intransitive) To persevere or insist in something: Continua con le sue lamentele.[7][13]
  6. (intransitive) To go on, proceed; to extend in space: Oltre il bosco il sentiero continua verso il lago.[7][13][14]
  7. (impersonal) To go on happening: continua a nevicare.[8][3]
  8. (archaic) To join; to frequent a place or person.[7][8]

Word family

  • continuazione
  • continuatore
  • continuativo
  • continuabile
  • continuato
  • continuanza
  • discontinuare

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  5. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  9. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1077
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
  12. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  13. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  14. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana