Etymologically
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continuo

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɔnˈtɪ.nu.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [konˈtiː.nu.o][1]

Forms

continuō (present infinitive continuāre, perfect active continuāvī, supine continuātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin continuus (“continuous”) + -ō.[2][3] Continuus is from contineō “to hold together”, from con- and teneō.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero, in his speeches on the agrarian law, has estates of ten acres joined together, and Sallust has men who join two or more houses.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to make continuous in space, to join or connect, as Tacitus' house linking the Palatine with the gardens of Maecenas, and in time, to join in unbroken succession, as Cicero's continuous grief.[2][5] It also meant to place side by side, to extend or prolong, as land extended far and wide, and to keep on with a course of action, as Caesar's work carried on day and night.[2] Intransitively it meant to continue or persist.[1]

Medieval Latin used it of carrying on and propagating something without a break.[6] It lives on in French continuer, Italian continuare and Spanish continuar.[1] English continue came from Old French and directly from Latin in the mid-14th century.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of joining estates and of continuous grief.[2][4]
  • 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it of joining houses.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of work kept up day and night.[2][4]
  • mid-14th century – English continue is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To join together, connect, make continuous in space.[2][1]
  2. To make continuous in time, join in unbroken succession.[2][1]
  3. To place together or side by side.[2]
  4. To extend, prolong.[2][1]
  5. To keep on with, (intransitive) to continue, persist.[2][1]

Word family

  • continuatim
  • continuātiō
  • continuatiuus

Usage notes

A separate word continuō is the adverb “immediately, forthwith”, formed from continuus and used from Plautus on.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com