discontinuity

noun

dis·​con·​ti·​nu·​ity (ˌ)dis-ˌkän-tə-ˈnü-ə-tē 

-ˈnyü-

1

: lack of continuity or cohesion

2

: gap sense 5

3

a

: the property of being not mathematically continuous

a point of discontinuity

b

: an instance of being not mathematically continuous

especially : a value of an independent variable at which a function is not continuous

Synonyms

• breach
• break
• gap
• gulf
• hiatus
• hole
• interstice
• interval
• opening
• rent
• rift
• separation
• void

Examples of discontinuity in a Sentence

There is a sense of discontinuity between the book's chapters.

microscopic discontinuities in the connecting wires

Recent Examples on the Web

While her book is at times fragmentary and episodic, marked by abrupt discontinuities, the cumulative effect is powerful, eloquently testifying to the horrific consequences of this conflict. —Rebecca Donner, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2025

This border or discontinuity is an average of 3–6 miles beneath the ocean floor and 10–60 miles beneath the continents. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 29 Nov. 2024

If our civilization suffers some kind of severe discontinuity, future archaeologists may need to dig this place up to get a hint as to how things went so wrong. —Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 24 Oct. 2024

This trait formed what Ella and I came to call a telescoping process, with parts stretching back across time, marking the discontinuity between past and present, and then collapsing it. —Rebecca J. Lester, Scientific American, 1 June 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1570, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing discontinuity

• Mohorovicic discontinuity

Rhymes for discontinuity

• acuity
• annuity
• circuity
• congruity
• fatuity
• gratuity
• tenuity
• vacuity
• ambiguity
• contiguity
• continuity
• incongruity