Main Entry: con·tin·u·um

Pronunciation: \kən-ˈtin-yü-əm\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural con·tin·ua \-yü-ə\ also con·tin·u·ums

Etymology: Latin, neuter of continuus

Date: 1646

1 : a coherent whole characterized as a collection, sequence, or progression of values or elements varying by minute degrees <“good” and “bad”…stand at opposite ends of a continuum instead of describing the two halves of a line — Wayne Shumaker>
2 : the set of real numbers including both the rationals and the irrationals; broadly : a compact set which cannot be separated into two sets neither of which contains a limit point of the other