continual
[ kuhn-tin-yoo-uhl ]
/ kənˈtɪn yu əl /
adjective
of regular or frequent recurrence; often repeated; very frequent: continual bus departures.
happening without interruption or cessation; continuous in time.
Origin of continual
1300–50; < Medieval Latin
continuālis, equivalent to Latin
continu(us)
continuous +
-ālis
-al1; replacing Middle English
continuel < Middle French < Latin, as above
SYNONYMS FOR continual
usage note for continual
Although usage guides generally advise that
continual may be used only to mean “intermittent” and
continuous only to mean “uninterrupted,” the words are used interchangeably in all kinds of speech and writing with no distinction in meaning:
The president's life is under continual (or
continuous )
scrutiny. Continuous (or
continual )
bursts of laughter punctuated her testimony. The adverbs
continually and
continuously are also used interchangeably. To make a clear distinction between what occurs at short intervals and what proceeds without interruption, writers sometimes use the contrasting terms
intermittent (
intermittent losses of power during the storm ) and
uninterrupted (
uninterrupted reception during the storm ) or similar expressions.
Continuous is not interchangeable with
continual in the sense of spatial relationship:
a continuous (not
continual )
series of passages.
OTHER WORDS FROM continual
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH continual
continual continuous intermittent (see usage note at the current entry)Words nearby continual
Example sentences from the Web for continual
British Dictionary definitions for continual
continual
/ (kənˈtɪnjʊəl) /
adjective
recurring frequently, esp at regular intervals
occurring without interruption; continuous in time
Derived forms of continual
continuality or continualness, noun continually, adverbWord Origin for continual
C14: from Old French
continuel, from Latin
continuus uninterrupted, from
continēre to hold together,
contain
undefined continual
See
continuous