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- pronunciation:
- kan
tih
n
 nt
- features:
- Word Explorer, Word Parts
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
one of the earth's major areas of land. The continents are usually considered to be seven in number. They 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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