in general, an appellation given to things continued without interruption; in which sense we say, continent fever, &c.

geography, a great extent of land not interrupted by seas, in contradistinction to island and peninsula, &c. See Geography.—Sicily is said to have been anciently torn from the continent of Italy; and it is an old tradition, which some of our antiquaries still have a regard to, that Britain was formerly a part of the continent of France.

The world is usually divided into two great continents, the old and the new. Whether there exists in the southern hemisphere another continent, or the whole be only an immense watery region, is a question that for near three centuries has engaged the attention of the learned as well as the commercial world, and given rise to many interesting voyages and discoveries; concerning which, see the article South Sea.