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- pronunciation:
- kan
tih
n
 nt
- features:
- Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
A continent is one of Earth's very large areas of land. These continents are usually considered to be Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. When we talk about the countries that make up a particular continent, we often include islands that are close to that continent or are connected with it by culture and history. For example, when we talk about the island country of Madagascar, we call it part of Africa even though it does not actually touch the continent.
Asia is the largest continent on earth. China is one of the countries that is on the continent of Asia.Most continents have many countries located on them, but the continent of Australia only has one country, which is also called Australia.
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| derivation: |
continently (adv.) |
The word continent
contains the following parts:
ten, tin, tain
Latin
root
that means to hold
  Example words:
abstain, attain, contain, container, content, continent, continual, continue, continuous, detain, detention, impertinent, lieutenant, maintain, maintenance, obtain, pertain, pertinent, retain, sustain, tennis, tenor
-ant, -ent
Latin
adjective- and noun-forming suffix
that means (in adjectives) doing the action denoted by the verb root; (in nouns) one who or that which does the action denoted by the verb root.
More about this word part:
The suffix -ant
, -ent
forms adjectives and, to a much lesser extent, nouns from Latin verb stems such as fid in confident
and stud in student
. This suffix is the equivalent in Latin of the "-ing" inflection in English. Many adjectives ending in -ant
, -ent
have a corresponding noun ending in -ance, -ence, -ancy, -ency.
Example words:
accident, accidental, adjacent, affluent, agent, antecedent, applicant, arrogant, complacent, confident, consultant, continent, current, dependent, different, disinfectant, dominant, efficient, eloquent, extravagant, fluent, hydrant, ignorant, important, incessant, indignant, parent, participant, patient, precedent, president, prudent, pungent, reluctant, resident, resonant, servant, significant, student, vacant
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