Adjacent Words

Continent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONTINENT, a. [L.]
1. Refraining from unlawful sexual commerce, or moderate in the indulgence of lawful pleasure; chaste.
2. Restrained; moderate; temperate.
Have a continent forbearance.
3. Opposing; restraining.
4. Continuous; connected; not interrupted.
The North East part of Asia, if not continent with America--
A continent fever. More generally we now say a continued fever.
CONTINENT, n.
1. In geography, a great extent of land, not disjoined or interrupted by a sea; a connected tract of land of great extent; as the Eastern and Western continent. It differs from an isle only in extent. New Holland may be denominated a continent. Britain is called a continent, as opposed to the isle of Anglesey.
In Spenser, continent is use for ground in general.
2. That which contains any thing. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: having control over urination and defecation [ant: incontinent]
2: abstaining from sexual intercourse; "celibate priests" [syn: celibate, continent] n
1: one of the large landmasses of the earth; "there are seven continents"; "pioneers had to cross the continent on foot"
2: the European mainland; "Englishmen like to visit the Continent but they wouldn't like to live there"

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin continent-, continens, from present participle of contin?re to hold in — more at contain Date: 14th century 1. exercising continence 2. obsolete restrictive • continently adverb II. noun Etymology: in senses 1 & 2, from Latin continent-, continens, present participle of contin?re, to hold together, contain; in senses 3 & 4, from Latin continent-, continens continuous mass of land, mainland, from continent-, continens, present participle Date: 1541 1. archaic container, confines 2. archaic epitome 3. mainland 4. a. one of the six or seven great divisions of land on the globe b. capitalized the continent of Europe — used with the

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 any of the main continuous expanses of land (Europe, Asia, Africa, N. and S. America, Australia, Antarctica). 2 (the Continent) Brit. the mainland of Europe as distinct from the British Isles. 3 continuous land; a mainland. Etymology: L terra continens (see CONTAIN) continuous land 2. adj. 1 able to control movements of the bowels and bladder. 2 exercising self-restraint, esp. sexually. Derivatives: continence n. continently adv. Etymology: ME f. L (as CONTAIN)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Encratite En"cra*tite, n. [L. Encratitae, pl., fr. Gr. ? self-disciplined; ? in + ? strength.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect in the 2d century who abstained from marriage, wine, and animal food; -- called also Continent.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Continent Con"ti*nent, a. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.] 1. Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [Obs.] --Shak. 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. --Shak. 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. --Shak. 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. --Berrewood.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Continent Con"ti*nent, n. [L. continens, prop., a holding together: cf. F. continent. See Continent, a.] 1. That which contains anything; a receptacle. [Obs.] The smaller continent which we call a pipkin. --Bp. Kennet. 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(continents) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A continent is a very large area of land, such as Africa or Asia, that consists of several countries. She loved the African continent... Dinosaurs evolved when most continents were joined in a single land mass. N-COUNT 2. People sometimes use the Continent to refer to the continent of Europe except for Britain. (mainly BRIT) Its shops are among the most stylish on the Continent. N-PROPER: the N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Chaste, temperate in sexual passion, free from lust. 2. Temperate (in general), moderate, self-commanding, self-controlled, restrained. II. n. Mainland, great tract of land.

Moby Thesaurus

Africa, America, Antipodes, Apostolic, Asia, Asia Major, Asia Minor, Australasia, East, Eastern Hemisphere, Encratic, Eurasia, Europe, Far East, Lenten, Levant, Middle East, Near East, New World, Occident, Oceania, Old World, Orient, Platonic, Pythagorean, Rechabite, Shaker, Spartan, Stoic, West, Western Hemisphere, abstemious, abstentious, abstinent, ascetic, bridled, celibate, chaste, curbed, down under, eastland, fruitarian, inhibited, intact, landmass, maidenly, nephalistic, on the wagon, pure, restrained, sexually abstinent, sober, sworn off, teetotal, temperate, the old country, vegetarian, vestal, virgin, virginal