continuity

The state of continuing without a break or staying connected over time or space.

• We need continuity in our work.
• The new manager maintained continuity during the change.
• The electrician tested the wire for continuity.

How to use it: continuity of something (The clinic aims to ensure continuity of care.); continuity between things (There is continuity between the old system and the new one.)

Similar words: connectedness

Opposites: discontinuity

Common phrases: continuity of care, maintain continuity, ensure continuity

Consistency in details between parts of a film or programme that show the same events.

• That scene has a continuity error.
• Someone checks continuity during filming.
• His changing hairstyle caused continuity problems between the shots.

Similar words: consistency

Common phrases: continuity error, check continuity, continuity problems

The property of a mathematical function having no sudden jumps or breaks in its values.

• Prove the continuity of this function.
• The graph helps us check continuity at zero.
• Continuity alone does not guarantee that a function has a derivative.

How to use it: continuity at a point (We checked continuity at the point where the two curves meet.)

Opposites: discontinuity

Common phrases: continuity of something, prove continuity, continuity at something