continuum

noun

con·​tin·​u·​um kən-ˈtin-yü-əm 

plural continua kən-ˈtin-yü-ə  also continuums

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

Examples of continuum in a Sentence

His motives for volunteering lie somewhere on the continuum between charitable and self-serving.

a continuum of temperatures ranging from very cold to very hot

Recent Examples on the Web

Symbolic logic turns this kind of argument into algebra, readily shared, solved and generalized for cracking a continuum of conundrums. —Vinay K. Chaudhri, Scientific American, 5 Sep. 2024

The United States will be majority non-white by 2050 and the Democrats recognize that within that new majority, there is the old ideological continuum of left and right. —Richard Stengel, TIME, 17 Aug. 2024

In other words, the films sometimes get lost in a continuum of influence and necessity to an informed discourse, rather than being recognized for their aesthetic or rhetorical merits. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Aug. 2024

The columns are decidedly Egyptian in style, asserting the foundational contributions of Black culture and forming a continuum between the vernacular contributions of both the ancient society and the artist’s own community. —Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 30 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin, noun derivative from neuter of Latin continuus continuous

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

continuum

noun

con·​tin·​u·​um kən-ˈtin-yə-wəm 

plural continuua

-yə-wə

also continuums

: something that is continuous and the same throughout and that is often thought of as a series of elements or values which differ by only tiny amounts

"light" and "dark" stand at opposite ends of a continuum