continent

continent
/kon"tn euhnt/, n.
1. one of the main landmasses of the globe, usually reckoned as seven in number (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica).
2. a comparable landmass on another planet.
3. the mainland, as distinguished from islands or peninsulas.
4. the Continent, the mainland of Europe, as distinguished from the British Isles.
5. a continuous tract or extent, as of land.
6. Archaic. something that serves as a container or boundary.
adj.
7. exercising or characterized by restraint in relation to the desires or passions and esp. to sexual desires; temperate.
8. able to control urinary and fecal discharge.
9. Obs. containing; being a container; capacious.
10. Obs. restraining or restrictive.
11. Obs. continuous; forming an uninterrupted tract, as land.
[1350-1400; ME < L continent- (s. of continens, prp. of continere to CONTAIN), equiv. to con- CON- + -tin-, comb. form of ten- hold + -ent- -ENT]

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One of seven large continuous masses of land: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia (listed in order of size).

Europe and Asia are sometimes considered a single continent, Eurasia. The continents vary greatly in size and in ratio of coastline to total area. More than two-thirds of the world's continental land area lies north of the equator, and all the continents except Antarctica are wedge-shaped, wider in the north than in the south. See also continental drift.

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 one of the larger continuous masses of land, namely, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia, listed in order of size. (Europe and Asia are sometimes considered a single continent, Eurasia.)

      There is great variation in the sizes of continents; Asia is more than five times as large as Australia. The largest island in the world, Greenland, is only about one-fourth the size of Australia. The continents differ sharply in their degree of compactness. Africa has the most regular coastline and, consequently, the lowest ratio of coastline to total area. Europe is the most irregular and indented and has by far the highest ratio of coastline to total area.

      The continents are not distributed evenly over the surface of the globe. If a hemisphere map centred in northwestern Europe is drawn, most of the world's land area can be seen to lie within that hemisphere. More than two-thirds of the Earth's land surface lies north of the Equator, and all the continents except Antarctica are wedge shaped, wider in the north than they are in the south.

      The distribution of the continental platforms and ocean basins on the surface of the globe and the distribution of the major landform features have long been among the most intriguing problems for scientific investigation and theorizing. Among the many hypotheses that have been offered as explanation are: (1) the tetrahedral (four-faced) theory, in which a cooling earth assumes the shape of a tetrahedron by spherical collapse; (2) the accretion theory, in which younger rocks attached to older shield areas became buckled to form the landforms; (3) the continental-drift theory, in which an ancient floating continent drifted apart; and (4) the convection-current theory, in which convection currents in the Earth's interior dragged the crust to cause folding and mountain making.

      Geological and seismological evidence accumulated in the 20th century indicates that the continental platforms do “float” on a crust of heavier material that forms a layer completely enveloping the Earth. Each continent has one of the so-called shield areas that formed 2 billion to 4 billion years ago and is the core of the continent to which the remainder (most of the continent) has been added. Even the rocks of the extremely old shield areas are older in the centre and younger toward the margins, indicating that this process of accumulation started early. In North America the whole northeast quarter of the continent, called the Canadian (Canadian Shield), or Laurentian, Shield, is characterized by the ancient rocks of what might be called the original continent. In Europe the shield area underlies the eastern Scandinavian peninsula and Finland. The Guiana Highlands of South America are the core of that continent. Much of eastern Siberia is underlain by the ancient rocks, as are western Australia and southern Africa. See also continental drift.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • continent — continent, ente 1. (kon ti nan, nan t ) adj. 1°   Qui observe la continence.    Substantivement. •   L exemple de la chasteté d Alexandre n a pas tant fait de continents que...., PASC. P. div. 107.    Les Continents, nom d une secte hérétique qui …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • 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.] [1913 Webster] The smaller continent which we call a pipkin. Bp. Kennet. [1913 Webster] 2. One… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • continent — con‧ti‧nent [ˈkɒntnənt ǁ ˈkɑːn ] noun [countable] 1. one of the seven large masses of land in the world: • the continents of Asia and Africa 2. the Continent used to refer to Western Europe not including Britain: • There is now greater co… …   Financial and business terms

  • 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. [1913 Webster] 2. Exercising restraint as to the …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • continent — Ⅰ. continent [1] ► NOUN 1) any of the world s main continuous expanses of land (Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, Australia, Antarctica). 2) (also the Continent) the mainland of Europe as distinct from the British Isles. ORIGIN from… …   English terms dictionary

  • Continent — In the UK the Continent (capital C) still invariably means ‘the mainland of Europe’ as distinct from the British Isles, as a geographical and cultural designation not affected by Britain s membership of the European Union. A continental breakfast …   Modern English usage

  • continent — [känt′ n ənt] adj. [OFr < L continens, prp. of continere: see CONTAIN] 1. self restrained; temperate 2. characterized by self restraint in, esp. by total abstinence from, sexual activity 3. Obs. restrictive n. 1. Rare a thing that retains or… …   English World dictionary

  • Continēnt — (v. lat.), eine Masse zusammen hängenden Landes, im Gegensatz von Insel; bes. das europäische Festland im Gegensatz von Großbritannien. Daher Continental, das Festland betreffend; so Continentalmächte, die Staaten auf dem festen Lande von Europa …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Continent — Continent, bezeichnet das feste Land, den Inseln entgegengesetzt. In Europa gebraucht man das Wort vorzüglich im Gegensatze zu Großbritannien und Irland, ebenso bei Amerika und Asien, im Gegensatze zu den diese Welttheile zahlreich umgebenden… …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

  • Continent — Continent, das Festland, große zusammenhängende Landmasse; wir haben einen alten C.: Asien, Afrika, Europa; einen neuen: Amerika; den australischen und den antarktischen. Continental, auf einen C. bezüglich, zu ihm gehörig …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • continent — adj temperate, unimpassioned, *sober Analogous words: restrained, bridled, curbed, inhibited (see RESTRAIN): decent, *chaste, pure: self denying, self abnegating (see corresponding nouns under RENUNCIATION) Antonyms: incontinent …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

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