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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

continue.

To proceed with (doing an activity); to prolong (an activity).

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/kənˈtɪn.juː/Received-Pronunciation/kənˈtɪn.jʉu/Ireland/kənˈtɪn juː//kənˈtɪn.ju/Canada, General-American
  1. To proceed with (doing an activity); to prolong (an activity).

    transitive
    Shall I continue speaking, or will you just interrupt me again?
    Do you want me to continue to unload these?
  2. To make last; to prolong.

    transitive
  3. To retain (someone or something) in a given state, position, etc.

    transitive
  4. To remain in a given place or condition; to remain in connection with; to abide; to stay.

    intransitive
  5. To resume.

    intransitive
    When will the concert continue?
  6. To adjourn, prorogue, put off.

    transitive
    This meeting has been continued to the thirteenth of July.
  7. To make a continuation bet.

    slang
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *tn̥eh₁yéti Proto-Italic *tenēō Latin teneō Latin contin(eō) Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Italic *-wos Latin -uus Latin continuus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin continuō Old French continuerbor. Middle English continuen English continue From Middle English continuen, from Old French continuer, from Latin continuō. Displaced native Middle English thurghwonen, from Old English þurhwunian.

noun/kənˈtɪn.juː/Received-Pronunciation/kənˈtɪn.jʉu/Ireland/kənˈtɪn juː//kənˈtɪn.ju/Canada, General-American
  1. An option allowing the player to resume play after game over, when all lives have been lost, while retaining their progress.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *tn̥eh₁yéti Proto-Italic *tenēō Latin teneō Latin contin(eō) Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Italic *-wos Latin -uus Latin continuus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin continuō Old French continuerbor. Middle English continuen English continue From Middle English continuen, from Old French continuer, from Latin continuō. Displaced native Middle English thurghwonen, from Old English þurhwunian.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.