Where does continue come from?

Continue entered English around 1300–50. Coming into English through French, continue ultimately comes from the Latin continuāre, meaning “to make all one, join together, connect.” This verb could also mean, much like its English derivative, “to carry on, draw out, prolong, last”—that is, to continue.

The Latin verb continuāre is formed from the adjective continuus. Does continuus look familiar? It’s the direct source of the English continuous, meaning “uninterrupted in time; without cessation” or “being in immediate connection or spatial relationship.”

The Latin adjective continuus meant “uninterrupted, unbroken, continuous.” That’s right: continuus meant, well, continuous. Sometimes, there is a great a deal of continuity in word development.

But we’re not done yet. The Latin continuus is itself ultimately based on another verb, continēre, “to hold or keep together.” So, something that continues—that is, it goes on, keeps on, or endures in some way—stays all held together, in an etymological manner of speaking.

Dig deeper

We noted above that continue is ultimately connected to continēre, “to hold together.” Continēre is the source of some other familiar English words, including contain, continent, and content. Does knowing that all these words come from a verb meaning “to hold together” give you any deeper insights into these words?

For all this talk of holding things together, we can, er, continue breaking apart the roots of the Latin verb continēre. It is composed of con–, a productive prefix with the sense of “with, together,” and tenēre, “to hold.”

Derivations of tenēre appears in a great many English words, including detain, detention, entertain, tenacious, tenant, tenet, retain, retention, sustain, and sustenance.

But don’t be fooled. While detain is related to detention and retain to retention, contain is not related to contention, or “strife, contest, controversy.” Contention is derived from the same Latin root that gives English contend.