Continent
Continent , adjective
[Latin continens, -entis, prop., present participle of continere to hold together, to repress: compare French continent. See Contain.]
1.
Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
2.
Exercising restraint as to the indulgence of desires or passions; temperate; moderate.
Have a continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes slower.
3.
Abstaining from sexual intercourse; exercising restraint upon the sexual appetite; esp., abstaining from illicit sexual intercourse; chaste.
My past life
Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true,
As I am now unhappy.
4.
Not interrupted; connected; continuous; as, a continent fever. [Obsolete]
The northeast part of Asia is, if not continent with the west side of America, yet certainly it is the least disoined by sea of all that coast.
Continent , noun
[Latin continens, prop., a holding together: compare French continent. See Continent, a.]
1.
That which contains anything; a receptacle. [Obsolete]
The smaller continent which we call a pipkin.
2.
(Physics Geography) One of the grand divisions of land on the globe; the main land; specifically (Physics Geography), a large body of land differing from an island, not merely in its size, but in its structure, which is that of a large basin bordered by mountain chains; as, the continent of North America.
The continents are now usually regarded as six in number: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. But other large bodies of land are also reffered to as continents; as, the Antarctic continent; the continent of Greenland. Europe, Asia, and Africa are often grouped together as the Eastern Continent, and North and South America as the Western Continent.
Collocations (1)
The Continent , the main land of Europe, as distinguished from the islands, especially from England.