continual

Continual is an English adjective used to describe something that happens again and again over a period, with interruptions or pauses between occurrences. It is often contrasted with continuous, which describes something that proceeds without interruption.

In common usage, continual emphasizes repetition with gaps: for example, “There were continual delays during the project.” In contrast, continuous characterizes ongoing, unbroken duration: “The noise continued continuously through the night.” The adverb continually is formed from the adjective and means “repeatedly or without stopping at short intervals.”

Etymology and usage notes: the word derives from Latin continuus, through Old French continuel, and began to appear in English in the Middle Ages. In modern prose, continual is commonly used in both British and American English, but some style guides advise reserving continual for events with gaps and using continuous for uninterrupted duration.

In technology and AI contexts, continual is used in the compound continual learning (also called lifelong learning), describing systems designed to acquire new knowledge over time while retaining previously learned information. This area addresses challenges such as knowledge retention and task interference as models encounter sequential tasks.