continent English · revision 10225

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1382|origins=fro continent|origins=la continens}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɒntɪnənt/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkɑntɪnənt/, /ˈkɑnt(ə)nənt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English, [[bor|fro|continent]] and directly from Latin continēns, continentem, holding together, continuous,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) present participle of continēre, to hold together, restrain, contain (see [[contain]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from com-, together, and tenēre, to hold (from PIE *ten-, to stretch).^(Etymonline) The geographical noun is from the phrase terra continēns, continuous land.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Self-restrained, temperate, especially in sexual matters: before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective was used of chastity from 1398,^(OED 1989) and in medicine of control over one's excretory functions from 1941.^(OED 1989) The noun, that which is contained, is from about 1425.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Continent land'', continuous land, is from the mid-15th century,^(Etymonline) and the noun, a continuous tract of land, from 1559 (the 1550s),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) extended by the sense of the mainland.^(Barnhart 1988) One of the great land masses of the globe is from the 1610s.^(Etymonline) ''The Continent'', the mainland of Europe as seen from Britain, is a later use.^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1382 – self-restrained (adjective).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1398 – chaste.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – continent land.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1559 – a continuous tract of land.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1610s – one of the great land masses.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1941 – able to control the bladder and bowels.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One of the principal land masses of the earth, such as [[Africa]], [[Asia]] or [[Europe]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(the Continent)'' The mainland of Europe, as distinct from Britain.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Exercising self-restraint, especially sexual.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(medicine)'' Able to control the bladder and bowels.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[continently]]

+ * [[protocontinent]]

+ * [[continental]]

+ * [[subcontinent]]

+ * [[supercontinent]]

+ * [[uncontinent]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[continence]]

+ * [[contain]]

+ * [[continue]]

+ * [[incontinent]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the west of Ireland, the continent was used for the mainland of Ireland as seen from the Aran Islands.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}