continental

• Rhymes: -ɛntəl

continent +‎ -al

• (continental Europe): Continental

continental (comparative more continental, superlative most continental)

1. Of or relating to a continent or continents.

   continental drift

   • (Can we date this quote?) Henry Hallam

     No former king had involved himself so frequently in the labyrinth of continental alliances.

2. of the mainland, as opposed to an island offshore

   continental Europe

   • 1846 The Parliamentary gazetteer of Ireland (A. Fullarton, Dublin) Vol.1 p.x "Introduction; Extent" :

     The outline of continental Ireland is proximately that of a rhomboid ; and, in a general view, is greatly more continuous or less indented and undulated by cuts and sweeps of the sea than the outline of continental Great Britain.

3. (chiefly in the UK) Relating to, or characteristic of, continental Europe

   continental breakfast

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 731476803:

     at Monte Carlo or some of the other Continental gambling-hells

4. (US, historical) Of or relating to the confederated colonies collectively, in the time of the Revolutionary War.

   continental money

• (in the main part of a country or region, as opposed to on one of its islands): mainland
• (characteristic of the style of continental Europe) European

• (characteristic of the style of continental Europe): British, English

continental (plural continentals)

1. Someone from the continent.
   • 2012, Marjorie Senechal, I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science

     Reflecting on his long career chronicling scientists, J. G. Crowther wondered why it was that in the grand debates over the nature of light, x-rays, and cathode rays, the British opted for particles and the continentals for waves.

2. (US, historical) A member of the Continental army.
3. (US, historical) Paper scrip (paper money) issued by the continental congress, largely worthless by the end of the war.
4. (by extension) The smallest amount; a whit; a jot.

   not worth a continental

   I don't care a continental!

continental (masculine and feminine plural continentals)

1. continental

continent +‎ -al

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continental (feminine singular continentale, masculine plural continentaux, feminine plural continentales)

1. continental

• “continental” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

continente +‎ -al

continental m or f (plural continentais, comparable)

1. continental

Borrowed from French continental.

• IPA^(key): /ˌkon.ti.nenˈtal/

continental m or n (feminine singular continentală, masculine plural continentali, feminine and neuter plural continentale)

1. continental

• continent

continente +‎ -al

continental (plural continentales)

1. continental