Continuel

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Happening again and again without interruption over a long period of time
2. Going on without pause or break, lasting or recurring constantly
3. Describing something that persists steadily, never stopping or letting up

Etymology: The French adjective "continuel" means "continual" or "ongoing," and in English it is mostly a foreign form, something you meet in French texts or as a rare borrowing. It descends from the Late Latin "continualis," which came from the Latin "continuus," meaning "uninterrupted" or "holding together." That Latin word was built from "com-," "together," and "tenere," "to hold." English "continual" is the same word. It came into English from Anglo-Norman and Old French "continuel," so the two words are cognates from a single source, with English having taken the form a little less directly. English "continuous" comes from the same Latin root but through a different French form, "continu," and is therefore a close relative rather than an identical twin.