CONTINUOUS


Meaning of CONTINUOUS in English

■ adjective

1》 without interruption.

↘forming a series with no exceptions or reversals.

↘ Mathematics denoting a function of which the graph is a smooth unbroken curve.

2》 Grammar another term for progressive (in sense 3).

Derivatives

~ly adverb

~ness noun

Origin

C17: from L. continuus 'uninterrupted', from continere 'hang together' (from con- 'together with' + tenere 'hold') + -ous .

Usage

Continuous and continual can both mean roughly ‘without interruption’ ( five years of ~/continual warfare ), but ~ is much more prominent in this sense and can be used to refer to space as well as time, as in the development forms a ~ line along the coast . Continual , on the other hand, typically means ‘happening frequently, with intervals between’, as in the bus service has been disrupted by continual breakdowns .

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.