Dictionary > English Dictionary > Definition, synonym and antonym of continuous
Meaning of continuous by Wiktionary Dictionary

# continuous

### Etymology

Either via French or directly, from Latin continuus .

### Pronunciation

• enPR: kən-tĭnʹyo͞o-əs, IPA: /kənˈtɪnjuəs/, X-SAMPA: /k@n"tInju@s/

continuous ( not comparable )

1. Without break, cessation, or interruption; without intervening time .
a continuous current of electricity
2. Without intervening space; continued; protracted; extended .
3. ( botany ) Not deviating or varying from uniformity; not interrupted; not joined or articulated .
4. ( analysis, of a function ) Such that, for every $x$ in the domain, for each small open interval $D$ about $f( x )" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wiktionary/en/math/5/0/b/50bbd36e1fd2333108437a2ca378be62.png" >, there's an interval containing $x$ whose image is in $D$ .
5. ( 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 .
6. ( grammar ) Expressing an ongoing action or state .

### Related terms

1. ^ “continual/continuous”, Brians, Paul Common Errors in English Usage, ( 2nd Edition, November 17, 2008 ), William, James & Company, 304 pp., ISBN 978-1-59028207-6

Explanation of continuous by Wordnet Dictionary

# continuous

1. a continuous rearrangement of electrons in the solar atoms results in the emission of light- James Jeans
a continuous bout of illness lasting six months
lived in continuous fear
a continuous row of warehouses
a continuous line has no gaps or breaks in it
2. of a function or curve

Definition of continuous by GCIDE Dictionary

# continuous

1. Continuous a. [L. continuus, fr. continere to hold together. See Continent.]
1. Without break, cessation, or interruption; without intervening space or time; uninterrupted; unbroken; continual; unceasing; constant; continued; protracted; extended; as, “a continuous line of railroad; a continuous current of electricity”.

he can hear its continuous murmur. Longfellow.

2. ( Bot. ) Not deviating or varying from uninformity; not interrupted; not joined or articulated.

Continuous brake ( Railroad ), a brake which is attached to each car a train, and can be caused to operate in all the cars simultaneously from a point on any car or on the engine. -- Continuous impost. See Impost.

Syn. -- Continuous, Continual. Continuous is the stronger word, and denotes that the continuity or union of parts is absolute and uninterrupted; as, a continuous sheet of ice; a continuous flow of water or of argument. So Daniel Webster speaks of “a continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England.” Continual, in most cases, 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, etc. See Constant.