Con-tĭn'ū-oŭs, a.
a. [Lat. continuus, from continere, to hold together; It. & Sp. continuo, Fr. continu. See CONTINENT.]
Sense 1. Without break, cessation, or interruption; constantly prolonged; protracted; extended; as, a continuous line of railroad; a continuous current of electricity. “Continuous depth.” Thomson.
Sense 2. (Bot.) Not deviating or varying from uniformity; not interrupted. Henslow.
Synonyms—CONTINUOUS, CONTINUAL. Continuous is the stronger word, and denotes that the continuity or union of parts is absolute and uninterrupted; as, a continuous sheet of ice; a continuous flow of argument. So Daniel Webster speaks of “a continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England.” Continual, in most cases, marks a close and unbroken succession of things, rather than absolute continuity. Thus we speak of continual showers, implying a repetition with occasional interruptions; we speak of a person as liable to continual calls, or as subject to continual applications for aid, &c. To say, “it rained continually during the day,” would not of necessity imply that there was no intermission whatever: to express that, we should be apt to use continuously. It is common to say, there are continual rains in the tropics at certain seasons. If continuous were used, it would imply that there was absolutely no cessation at all during the whole period, which is rarely, if ever, the case.