continuity

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Lack of interruption or disconnection; the quality of being continuous in space or time.

   While troubleshooting the heating and cooling system, we found a lack of continuity in a circuit that is normally closed.

2. 2
   noun

   A characteristic property of a continuous function.

   The definition of a continuous function assumes that the function is already defined for x = a. If this is not the case, however, it is sometimes possible to assign such a value to the function for x = a that the condition of continuity shall be satisfied.

3. 3
   noun

   A narrative device in episodic fiction where previous and/or future events in a series of stories are accounted for in present stories.

   In “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character.

4. 4
   noun

   A canon; one specific fictional universe within a multiverse.

   At a live filmed announcement at Midtown Comics in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon, Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso and executive editor Tom Brevoort announced a new status quo for the Marvel Universe, with worlds colliding to form a mish-mash of continuities that will be the setting for all Marvel comics from May 2015 onwards.

5. 5
   noun

   the property of a continuous and connected period of time

6. 6
   noun

   a detailed script used in making a film in order to avoid discontinuities from shot to shot

7. 7
   noun

   uninterrupted connection or union

8. 8
   noun

   Consistency between multiple shots depicting the same scene but possibly filmed on different occasions.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French continuité, from Latin continuitas. By surface analysis, continu(e) + -ity.