# continental
## English
### Alternative forms

* (continental Europe): Continental

### Etymology

From continent +‎ -al.

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˌkɑntɪˈnɛntl̩/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌkɒntɪˈnɛntl̩/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛntəl
* Hyphenation: con‧ti‧nent‧al

### Adjective

continental (comparative more continental, superlative most continental)
* Of or relating to a continent or continents.
    continental drift
** 2012, Chinle Miller, “The Tectonic Forces of the Mesozoic”, in In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition, page 34:Offshore to the west of the continental margin during the Early Triassic, the Sonoma highlands formed a volcanic island arc, separated from the mainland by a shallow sea that cut through western Nevada and northwestern Utah.
** 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:No former king had involved himself so frequently in the labyrinth of continental alliances.
* 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.
* 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:at Monte Carlo or some of the other Continental gambling-hells
* (US, historical) Of or relating to the confederated colonies collectively, in the time of the Revolutionary War.
    continental money

#### Synonyms

* (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

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “characteristic of the style of continental Europe”): British, English

#### Derived terms

* amphicontinental
* bicontinental
* continental breakfast
* continental crust
* Continental Divide (community)
* continental divide
* continental drift
* continental drip
* Continentaler
* continental Europe
* continental glacier
* continentalism
* continentalist
* continentality
* continentalization
* continentalize
* continentally
* continental philosophy
* continental plate
* continental quilt
* continental seating
* continental shelf
* continental shift
* continental slope
* continental time
* continental United States
* continental US
* epicontinental
* extracontinental
* hypercontinental
* intercontinental
* intracontinental
* microcontinental
* midcontinental
* multicontinental
* noncontinental
* palaeocontinental
* paleocontinental
* pancontinental
* pluricontinental
* semicontinental
* subcontinental
* supercontinental
* transcontinental
* trans-continental
* tricontinental
* uncontinental

#### Descendants

* → Korean: 콘티넨털 (kontinenteol)

#### Translations
### Noun

continental (plural continentals)
* 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.
* (US, historical) A member of the Continental army.
* (US, historical) Paper scrip (paper money) issued by the continental congress, largely worthless by the end of the war.
* (obsolete, by extension) The smallest amount; a whit; a jot.
    not worth a continental
    I don't care a continental!

## Catalan
### Etymology

From continent +‎ -al.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [kun.ti.nənˈtal]
* IPA: (Balearic) [kon.ti.nənˈtal]
* IPA: (Valencia) [kon.ti.nenˈtal]

### Adjective

continental m or f (masculine and feminine plural continentals)
* continental

#### Derived terms

* intercontinental

### Further reading

* “continental” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “continental”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “continental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “continental” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## French
### Etymology

From continent +‎ -al.

### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Adjective

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

#### Derived terms

* Chine continentale

### Further reading

* “continental”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Galician
### Etymology

From continente +‎ -al.

### Adjective

continental m or f (plural continentais)
* continental

#### Derived terms

* intercontinental

### Further reading

* “continental”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

## Occitan
### Etymology

continent +‎ -al

### Adjective

continental m (feminine singular continentala, masculine plural continentals, feminine plural continentalas)
* continental

## Portuguese
### Etymology

From continente +‎ -al.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /kõ.t͡ʃi.nẽˈtaw/ [kõ.t͡ʃi.nẽˈtaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /kõ.ti.nẽˈtal/ [kõ.ti.nẽˈtaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /kõ.ti.nẽˈtal/ [kõ.ti.nẽˈtaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /kõ.ti.nẽˈta.li/
* Rhymes: -al, -aw
* Hyphenation: con‧ti‧nen‧tal

### Adjective

continental m or f (plural continentais)
* continental
* (chiefly Azores, chiefly Madeira) Portuguese from the mainland

#### Derived terms

* continentalmente
* intercontinental

### Noun

continental m or f by sense (plural continentais)
* (chiefly Azores, chiefly Madeira) Portuguese from the mainland

### Further reading

* “continental”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French continental. By surface analysis, continent +‎ -al.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˌkon.ti.nenˈtal/

### Adjective

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

#### Related terms

* continent

## Spanish
### Etymology

From continente +‎ -al.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kontinenˈtal/ [kõn̪.t̪i.nẽn̪ˈt̪al]
* Rhymes: -al
* Syllabification: con‧ti‧nen‧tal

### Adjective

continental m or f (masculine and feminine plural continentales)
* continental

#### Derived terms

* continentalidad
* continentalmente
* deriva continental
* intercontinental
* plataforma continental

### Further reading

* “continental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10