Continuous

Pronunciation

enPR: kÉ™n-tÄnÊ¹yoÍžo-É™s, IPA: /kÉ™nËˆtÉªnjuÉ™s/

Origin

Either via French or directly, from Latin continuus.

Full definition of continuous

Adjective

continuous

Without break, cessation, or interruption; without intervening time.a continuous current of electricity

1847, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, , Ticknor and Fields (1854), page 90:he can hear its continuous murmur

Without intervening space; continued; protracted; extended.a continuous line of railroad
(botany) Not deviating or varying from uniformity; not interrupted; not joined or articulated.
(analysis, of a function) Such that, for every x in the domain, for each small open interval D about f(x), there's an interval containing x whose image is in D.
(mathematics, more generally, of a function) Such that each open set in the range has an open preimage.Each continuous function from the real line to the rationals is constant, since the rationals are totally disconnected.
(grammar) Expressing an ongoing action or state.

Usage notes

Continuous is stronger than continual. It denotes that the continuity or union of parts is absolute and uninterrupted, as in a continuous sheet of ice, or a continuous flow of water or of argument. So Daniel Webster speaks of "a continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England." By contrast, continual usually marks a close and unbroken succession of things, rather than absolute continuity. Thus we speak of continual showers, implying a repetition with occasional interruptions; we speak of a person as liable to continual calls, or as subject to continual applications for aid.

Brians 2008|continual|continual/continuous

Synonyms

(without break, cessation, or interruption in time): constant, continual (but see usage notes above), incessant, never-ending, ongoing, unbroken, unceasing, unending, uninterrupted
(without break, cessation, or interruption in space): connected, unbroken

Antonyms

(without break, cessation, or interruption in time): broken, discontinuous, discrete, intermittent, interrupted
(without break, cessation, or interruption in space): broken, disconnected, disjoint, unbroken
(in mathematical analysis): discontinuous, stepwise

Derived terms

continuous brakeWebster:
Continuous brake, (Railroad): a brake which is attached to each car of a train, and can be caused to operate in all the cars simultaneously from a point on any car or on the engine.
continuous impostWebster: *Continuous impost. See Impost.
continuously
continuousness