[kon-tn-uh
nt] 
| 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. |
| 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. | Obsolete. containing; being a container; capacious. |
| 10. | Obsolete. restraining or restrictive. |
| 11. | Obsolete. continuous; forming an uninterrupted tract, as land. |
| con·ti·nent 1 (kŏn'tə-nənt) n.
[Latin (terra) continēns, continent-, continuous (land), present participle of continēre, to hold together; see contain.] |
The large parts of the surface of the Earth that rise above sea level. The seven major continents are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.
Note: Continents are made from the lightest rocks in the Earth. Some of these are also the oldest known rocks on Earth, with an age of 3.5 billion years, measured by radioactive dating.
Note: According to the theory of plate tectonics, continents move along piggy-back on the tectonic plates like rafts floating on water.