Continuate

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. To join or link things together in an unbroken sequence or chain
2. To connect separate elements into a continuous whole without interruption
3. To form or maintain an unbroken connection between distinct parts or phases

Etymology: "Continuate" is an English word of Latin ancestry that survived alongside its close relative "continue" and mostly fell out of use. It is a doublet of "continue": both descend from the Latin "continuo," meaning "to join together, to make continuous," but they reached English by different routes. The form "continuate" came into English from Latin "continuatus," the past participle of "continuo," and the -ate ending carried over with it. Its first recorded appearance is in 1471, when it was used as an adjective meaning "continuous," and it was also used as the past participle of a Middle English verb "continuaten." The verb-forming suffix "-en" was then attached to the adjective to create the Middle English verb "continuaten," meaning to keep going or to make something continue. The word therefore passed through English in two directions at once: the adjective kept its Latin shape, while the verb built on it grew into the "continue" that became the common form. Over time, "continue" took over nearly all the work, leaving "continuate" as a fossil of an earlier stage of the language.

Synonyms: continue, persist, endure

Antonyms: discontinue, cease