Etymology

continual

con·tin·u·al
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Today it means: Recurring in steady, rapid succession. Full definition →

Middle English continuel ← Old French continuel ← Latin continuus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcontinuus“continuous”
  2. Old French · derived fromcontinuel
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcontinuel
  4. English todaycontinual

From Middle English continuel, from Old French continuel, formed from Latin continuus (“continuous”) with the suffix -el, equivalent to continue + -al.

Words from the same roots

Latincontinuus all →

continuouscontinuo

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.