CONTINENT • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Continent

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/kˈɑntənənt/ Listen

noun

Continent n.

1.

That which contains anything; a receptacle. (Obs.) "The smaller continent which we call a pipkin."

2.

One of the grand divisions of land on the globe; the main land; specifically (Phys. Geog.), a large body of land differing from an island, not merely in its size, but in its structure, which is that of a large basin bordered by mountain chains; as, the continent of North America. Note: The continents are now usually regarded as six in number: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. But other large bodies of land are also reffered to as continents; as, the Antarctic continent; the continent of Greenland. Europe, Asia, and Africa are often grouped together as the Eastern Continent, and North and South America as the Western Continent.

The Continent, the main land of Europe, as distinguished from the islands, especially from England.

adjective

Continent adj.

1.

Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. (Obs.)

2.

Exercising restraint as to the indulgence of desires or passions; temperate; moderate. "Have a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes slower."

3.

Abstaining from sexual intercourse; exercising restraint upon the sexual appetite; esp., abstaining from illicit sexual intercourse; chaste. "My past life" "Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true," "As I am now unhappy."

4.

Not interrupted; connected; continuous; as, a continent fever. (Obs.) "The northeast part of Asia is, if not continent with the west side of America, yet certainly it is the least disoined by sea of all that coast."

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Etymology of 'Continent'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Continent" Quotes from Famous Books

... being Pope, he does not discover that he may at length lay aside mask and hood. 'Continent Cardinal—lewd Pope,' is the old motto, you know; something must be the matter with the good man's brain if he continue to live ...

— Rienzi • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... constitutional dislike of responsibility assisted him in his firm decision to lead the life of a country nobleman. He retired to his estate, and remained there in solitude, troubling no one except his agent, till a Russian lady, whom he had first met and loved during his early travels on the Continent, happened to come visiting in the neighbourhood. As the daughter of a Russian Prince and Ambassador, she had considered her rank superior to Lord Garrow's, and therefore felt justified, as she informed her relations after he had succeeded to the earldom, in making ...

— Robert Orange - Being a Continuation of the History of Robert Orange • John Oliver Hobbes

... captain; he was unable to follow it up; and even though he had, the flight of birds over the surface of the sea is tame and storyless, as compared with the movements of the unnumbered myriads of these pigeons in the great central valley of our continent. None of the names which have been bestowed upon this species are sufficiently, or at all, descriptive of it. Passenger, the English expression, and Migratoria, the Latin name, fall equally short, inasmuch as every known pigeon is to a greater or less extent migratory ...

— Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 3. March 1848 • Various

... the last two years by Dr. Allen Thomson, by Dr. Rolleston, by Mr. Marshall, and by Mr. Flower, all, as you are aware, anatomists of repute in this country, and by Professors Schroeder Van der Kolk, and Vrolik (whom Professor Owen incautiously tried to press into his own service) on the Continent, all these able and conscientious observers have with one accord testified to the accuracy of my statements, and to the utter baselessness of the assertions of Professor Owen. Even the venerable Rudolph Wagner, whom no man will accuse of progressionist proclivities, has ...

— Lectures and Essays • T.H. Huxley

... when victorious Peace unexpectedly arrived; and the gates of the Continent after five-and-twenty years of fierce closure were suddenly thrown open; and the hearts of all English and European men awoke staggering as if from a nightmare suddenly removed, and ran hither and thither,—Edward Sterling also determined ...

— The Life of John Sterling • Thomas Carlyle

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