continuo

Forms

continuo (feminine continua, masculine plural continui, feminine plural continue)^[1] The old form Old Italian continovo has a /v/ inserted to avoid the hiatus.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin continuus (“uninterrupted”), from contineō (“to hold together”), from com- and teneō (“to hold”).^[4][5][6][7] Devoto compares the relation of contiguus to tangō and of assiduus to sedeō.^[8] DEI lists semi-learned old forms such as Old Italian contignu (Genoa) and Old Italian contugno (Padua), Lombard contìnov in Milan, and the cognate French continu (13th century).^[9] Nocentini adds Spanish continuo.^[5]

Wiktionary takes the obsolete adverb meaning “continuously” from the adverb Latin continuō (“at once”), while Zingarelli treats it as the adjective used as an adverb.^[1][10] The noun is the adjective used as a noun.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Storie de Troia e de Roma, written in Rome in 1252–1258, with the sense “happening or extending without interruption in time or space”.^[3] DELI's first record is in Bono Giamboni, before 1292.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already had febbre continua, a fever that stays the same throughout an illness, the sense “assiduous”, and adverbial phrases such as di continuo, al continuo and per lo continuo.^[3] Continuare (before 1292, Giamboni) and continuità (1304–1308, Dante) appeared beside it.^[4]

The noun, “that which is continuous”, is recorded in 1585 in Lionardo Salviati.^[4] Galileo discussed whether the parts of a continuum are finite or infinite, and accepted “il continuo esser divisibile in sempre divisibili” (that the continuum is divisible into parts always divisible).^[12][13] Mathematics, physics and linguistics later gave it technical senses: the continuum of real numbers, corrente continua “direct current”, and continuant consonants.^[6][11] In music the basso continuo is the unbroken bass accompaniment played on organ or harpsichord.^[7]

Timeline

• 1252–1258 – The Storie de Troia e de Roma use continuo.^[3]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses continuo and continuare.^[4]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses continuità.^[4]
• 1585 – Lionardo Salviati uses the noun il continuo.^[4]
• 16th century – Continuo is recorded for a favourite servant in Spain.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lasting without interruption, incessant: un rumore continuo.^[6][11][2]
2. (chiefly plural) Repeated very often: Con quelle continue telefonate non riesco a lavorare.^[6][11][14]
3. Unbroken in space: una linea continua.^[6][11][2]
4. Of matter, compact, solid.^[6][11]
5. (mathematics) Of a function, continuous.^[11][2][10]
6. (electricity) Corrente continua, direct current.^[11][2][10]
7. (linguistics) Of a sound, that can be prolonged, continuant.^[6][10][14]

Noun

1. (philosophy, physics) What is continuous, the continuum.^[6][11][14]
2. (mathematics) The continuum of the real numbers.^[11][10]
3. An unbroken series of events: è un continuo di lamentele.^[6][11][10]

Adverb

1. (literary, obsolete) Continuously.^[6][10][1]

Word family

• continuare
• continuità
• continuamente
• continuazione
• continuativo
• discontinuo

Related words

• contenere
• Latin continuus

Usage notes

Di continuo means “all the time, without a break”.^[11][14][10] DEI records a 16th-century continuo, a favourite servant bound to follow and defend his lord in Spain, from Spanish continuo.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 114
9. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1077
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 659
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana