Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A continuous extent, succession, or whole, no part of which can be distinguished from neighboring parts except by arbitrary division.
  • noun A set having the same number of points as all the real numbers in an interval.
  • noun The set of all real numbers.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In mathematics, the whole system of positive and negative integral, fractional, and irrational numbers.
  • noun A continuous spread or extension; a continuity; a continuous quantity. See continuity.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A continuous series or whole, no part of which is noticeably different from its adjacent parts, although the ends or extremes of it are very different from each other.
  • noun mathematics The set of all real numbers and, more generally, a compact connected metric space.
  • noun music A touch sensitive strip, similar to a standard electronic musical keyboard, except that the note steps are 1⁄100 of a semitone, and so are not separately marked.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a continuous nonspatial whole or extent or succession in which no part or portion is distinct or distinguishable from adjacent parts

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, neuter of continuus, continuous; see continue.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin continuum, neuter form of continuus, from contineō ("contain, enclose")

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Examples

Comments

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  • In mathematics the number continuum is the concept that between any two numbers, no matter how small, there is another number smaller, such that the number line is continuous--has no 'holes'.

    February 14, 2007

  • Not to be confused with the continuum hypothesis, which describes the various sizes of infinite sets.

    February 15, 2007

  • For those who favorited the word, why?

    1. Math?

    2. Star Trek?

    3. Like words with double "u"

    February 15, 2007

  • I haven't favorited it, but my attraction to this word is almost completely due to Star Trek.

    February 15, 2007

  • If I were to "favorite" it, it would probably be because it has the same nether end as vacuum. So #3, I suppose.

    February 15, 2007

  • As much as I love math, I also love words with double "u," & this is a much more interesting word than "vacuum"

    I also enjoy John Mayer :) I'm glad he used this as an album title

    December 3, 2007

  • I hate math, but I like this word.

    December 3, 2007