continually

See also: continuously

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English continual

Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der.

Proto-Germanic *līkąder.

Proto-Germanic *-līkaz

Proto-Germanic *-ê

Proto-Germanic *-līkê

Proto-West Germanic *-līkē

Old English -līċe

Middle English -ly

English -ly

English continually

From continual + -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈtɪnjuəli/, /kənˈtɪnjəli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧tin‧u‧al‧ly

Adverb

continually (comparative more continually, superlative most continually)

1. In regular or repeated succession; very often.

   Hecklers continually interrupted my speech.

   • 2007, George W. Norton, E. A. Heinrichs, Gregory C. Luther, Globalizing Integrated Pest Management: A Participatory Research Process, page 87:

     Guatemalan snowpea production has continually been harmed by insect and disease infestations.

2. (sometimes proscribed) In a continuous manner; non-stop.

Usage notes

• According to Garner's Modern English Usage, continually and continuously mean different things. Continually means that something happens regularly but in discrete bursts ("The municipality continually issued boil-water advisories at a rate of almost once a month"), while continuously means that something is happening at a constant and uninterrupted rate ("The lava has continuously erupted from the volcano for a week; it has not stopped erupting even for one second").
• Garner offers this mnemonic: imagine that the -ous of continuous stands for "one uninterrupted sequence".

Synonyms

• (in regular or repeated succession): time and again, little by little, momently, at every turn; see also Thesaurus:gradually or Thesaurus:sequentially
• (in a continuous manner): ceaselessly, incessantly, nonstop; see also Thesaurus:continuously

Derived terms

• itinually

Translations

in regular or repeated succession

• Arabic: مرارا (mirāran), مرارا وتكرارا (mirāran wa takrāran)
• German: immer wieder (de), immerzu (de)
• Polish: bezustannie (pl)

in a continuous manner

• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: عمال (ʕammāl)

• Catalan: continuadament (ca)
• Esperanto: senĉese
• Finnish: jatkuvasti (fi)
• German: ständig (de), andauernd (de) (coll.)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: συνεχῶς (sunekhôs)

• Hebrew: עוד (he) (od)
• Hungarian: folyamatosan (hu)
• Irish: de ghréas
• Japanese: 絶え間なく (taemanaku)
• Latin: iūgiter, assiduē
• Naga:

  Khiamniungan Naga: thùolòuhkō

• Norman: continnuellement
• Plautdietsch: eegol
• Portuguese: continuamente (pt)
• Russian: непреры́вно (ru) (neprerývno)
• Scottish Gaelic: daonnan, an còmhnaidh, gu sìor
• Spanish: continuadamente, continuamente (es)
• Tamil: தொடர்ந்து (toṭarntu)
• Tocharian B: ṣek
• Walloon: tofer (wa), toltins (wa)

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “continually”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “continually”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.