n.
Pronunciation: k ə n- ' tin-yü- ə m
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ua \ -yü- ə \ also -u · ums
Etymology: Latin, neuter of continuus
Date: 1646
1 : a coherent whole characterized as a collection, sequence, or progression of values or elements varying by minute degrees < “ good ” and “ bad ” ⋯ stand at opposite ends of a continuum instead of describing the two halves of a line ― Wayne Shumaker>
2 : the set of real numbers including both the rationals and the irrationals broadly : a compact set which cannot be separated into two sets neither of which contains a limit point of the other