Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Continent \Con"ti*nent\, n. [L. continens, prop., a holding
   together: cf. F. continent. See {Continent}, a.]
   1. That which contains anything; a receptacle. [Obs.]

            The smaller continent which we call a pipkin. --Bp.
                                                  Kennet.

   2. One of the grand divisions of land on the globe; the main
      land; specifically (Phys. Geog.), a large body of land
      differing from an island, not merely in its size, but in
      its structure, which is that of a large basin bordered by
      mountain chains; as, the continent of North America.

   Note: The continents are now usually regarded as six in
         number: North America, South America, Europe, Asia,
         Africa, and Australia. But other large bodies of land
         are also reffered to as continents; as, the Antarctic
         continent; the continent of Greenland. Europe, Asia,
         and Africa are often grouped together as the Eastern
         Continent, and North and South America as the Western
         Continent.

   {The Continent}, the main land of Europe, as distinguished
      from the islands, especially from England.