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continent

con·ti·nent
C c

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [kon-tn-uh nt]
    • /ˈkɒn tn ənt/
    • /ˈkɒntɪnənt/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [kon-tn-uh nt]
    • /ˈkɒn tn ənt/

Definitions of continent word

  • countable noun continent A continent is a very large area of land, such as Africa or Asia, that consists of several countries. 3
  • proper noun continent People sometimes use the Continent to refer to the continent of Europe except for Britain. 3
  • noun continent one of the earth's large land masses (Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Antarctica) 3
  • noun continent that part of the earth's crust that rises above the oceans and is composed of sialic rocks. Including the continental shelves, the continents occupy 30 per cent of the earth's surface 3
  • noun continent mainland as opposed to islands 3
  • noun continent a continuous extent of land 3
See all 34 definitions of continent

Information block about the term

Origin of continent

First appearance:

before 1350
One of the 20% oldest English words
1350-1400; Middle English < Latin continent- (stem of continēns, present participle of continēre to contain), equivalent to con- con- + -tin-, combining form of ten- hold + -ent- -ent

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Continent

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Continent

continent popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 94% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

continent usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for continent

adj continent

  • celibate — Someone who is celibate does not marry or have sex, because of their religious beliefs.
  • ascetic — An ascetic person has a way of life that is simple and strict, usually because of their religious beliefs.
  • abstemious — Someone who is abstemious avoids doing too much of something enjoyable such as eating or drinking.
  • austere — If you describe something as austere, you approve of its plain and simple appearance.
  • inhibited — overly restrained.

adjective continent

  • chaste — If you describe a person or their behaviour as chaste, you mean that they do not have sex with anyone, or they only have sex with their husband or wife.
  • pure — free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold; pure water.

noun continent

  • landmass — a part of the continental crust above sea level having a distinct identity, as a continent or large island.
  • land — Edwin Herbert, 1909–91, U.S. inventor and businessman: created the Polaroid camera.
  • landform — a specific geomorphic feature on the surface of the earth, ranging from large-scale features such as plains, plateaus, and mountains to minor features such as hills, valleys, and alluvial fans.
  • island — a tract of land completely surrounded by water, and not large enough to be called a continent.
  • mainland — the largest of the Shetland Islands. About 200 sq. mi. (520 sq. km).
All 24 Synonyms of continent

Antonyms for continent

adj continent

  • impure — not pure; mixed with extraneous matter, especially of an inferior or contaminating nature: impure water and air.
  • incontinent — unable to restrain natural discharges or evacuations of urine or feces.
  • unchaste — not chaste; not virtuous; not pure: an unchaste woman.
All 3 Antonyms of continent

Top questions with continent

  • what continent is russia in?
  • what is a continent?
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  • which continent has the most countries?
  • what is the largest continent?
  • what continent is india in?
  • what continent is the middle east?
  • what continent is turkey in?
  • what continent is mexico in?
  • what continent is new zealand?
  • what is the smallest continent?
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  • what continent is france in?
  • what are the continent of the world?

Related words

  • antarctica

    a continent around the South Pole: consists of an ice-covered plateau, 1800–3000 m (6000 ft to 10 000 ft) above sea level, and mountain ranges rising to 4500 m (15 000 ft) with some volcanic peaks; average temperatures all below freezing and human settlement is confined to research stations. All political claims to the mainland are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959

  • epeirogeny

    (geomorphology) broad regional upwarp of the cratonic portions of continents.

  • protocontinent

    an actual or hypothetical landmass that might later be enlarged into a major continent or broken up into smaller ones.

  • south american plate

    a major tectonic division of the earth's crust, comprising the continent of South America and several ocean basins and bounded on the north by the Caribbean Plate, on the east by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, on the west by a submarine trench that borders the western coast of the continent, and on the south by the Antarctic Plate.

  • africa

    the second largest of the continents, on the Mediterranean in the north, the Atlantic in the west, and the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean in the east. The Sahara desert divides the continent unequally into North Africa (an early centre of civilization, in close contact with Europe and W Asia, now inhabited chiefly by Arabs) and Africa south of the Sahara (relatively isolated from the rest of the world until the 19th century and inhabited chiefly by Negroid peoples). It was colonized mainly in the 18th and 19th centuries by Europeans and now comprises independent nations. The largest lake is Lake Victoria and the chief rivers are the Nile, Niger, Congo, and Zambezi. Pop: 1 100 000 000 (2013 est). Area: about 30 300 000 sq km (11 700 000 sq miles)

  • african plate

    a major tectonic division of the earth's crust, comprising the African continent as well as adjacent ocean basins (the Canary, Cape Verde, Angola, Cape Agulhas, Somali, Madagascar, and Natal Basins), and bounded on the north by the Eurasian and Arabian Plates, on the east by mid-ocean ridges (the Southwest Indian, Mid-Indian, and Carlsberg Ridges), on the south by the Antarctic Plate, and on the west by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
All related words to continent

See also

Matching words

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