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- pronunciation:
- kan
tih
n
 nt
- features:
- Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
one of the earth's seven major areas of land. The continents are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.
Brazil is on the continent of South America.
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| derivation: |
continently (adv.) |
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broader category including continent |
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Earth, land |
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names of the seven continents |
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Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America |
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some parts of continents |
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continental shelf, divide, mainland |
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study of continents |
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geology, plate tectonics |
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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