Forever vs Continuous - What's the difference?
forever | continuous |
(duration) for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time.
* 1839 , Denison Olmsted, A Compendium of Astronomy Page 95
(duration, colloquial) for a very long time, 'an' eternity.
(frequency) constantly or frequently.
* 1912 : (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 5
An extremely long time.
*
* 2007 , Ruth O'Callaghan, Where acid has etched
(colloquial) a mythical time in the infinite future that will never come.
Without break, cessation, or interruption; without intervening time.
* 1847 , , Ticknor and Fields (1854), page 90:
Without intervening space; continued; protracted; extended.
(botany) Not deviating or varying from uniformity; not interrupted; not joined or articulated.
(analysis, of a function) Such that, for every x'' in the domain, for each small open interval ''D'' about ''f''(''x''), there's an interval containing ''x'' whose image is in ''D .
(mathematics, more generally, of a function) Such that each open set in the range has an open preimage.
(grammar) Expressing an ongoing action or state.
As an adverb forever
is (duration) for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time.As a noun forever
is an extremely long time.As an adjective continuous is
without break, cessation, or interruption; without intervening time.forever
English
Alternative forms
* for everAdverb
(-)- ''I shall love you forever .
- Secondly, When a body is once in motion it will continue to move forever , unless something stops it. When a ball is struck on the surface of the earth, the friction of the earth and the resistance of the air soon stop its motion.
- ''We had to wait forever to get inside.
- ''You are forever nagging me.
- Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he was forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.
Usage notes
* In the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth, the spelling for ever'' may be used instead of ''forever'' for the senses "for all time" and "for a long time". In Canada and the United States, generally only ''forever is used, regardless of sense.Synonyms
* always * continually * eternally * evermore * for good * forevermore * for ever more * incessantly * until Kingdom comeDerived terms
* forevernessNoun
(en noun)- In the airport, holiday lovers kiss, mouth forevers , the usual argot betrays you. Desire makes love dull.
- ''Sure, I'd be happy to meet with you on the 12th of forever .
continuous
English
Adjective
(-)- a continuous current of electricity
- he can hear its continuous murmur
- a continuous line of railroad
- Each continuous function from the real line to the rationals is constant, since the rationals are totally disconnected.