I. kənˈtin(y)əwəm noun
( plural contin·ua -wə ; also continuums )
Etymology: Latin, neuter of continuus — more at continuous
1. : something that is absolutely continuous and selfsame: as
a. : something of which no distinction of content can be affirmed except by reference to something else (as duration and extension which are capable of supporting distinctions only by reference to numbers or to such relations as those of now to then, here to there, before to after )
b. : something of which the only assertable variation is variation in time or space
2.
a. : something in which a fundamental common character is discernible amid a series of insensible or indefinite variations
a sensation continuum
b. : an identity of substance uniting discrete parts ; broadly : continuity
3. : a set that has the same transfinite cardinal number as the set of real numbers or the set of all the points of a straight line used as a number scale
4.
a. : an ideal substance or medium containing no vacant spaces and devoid of discrete structure
b. : a continuous portion of a spectrum
II. noun
: a compact set which cannot be separated into two sets neither of which contains a limit point of the other
any closed interval of the real numbers is a continuum