English

Noun

discontinuity ‎(plural discontinuities)

1. A lack of continuity, regularity or sequence; a break or gap. [from 16th c.]
   • 2012, George Dyson, Turing's Cathedral, Penguin 2013, p. 57:

     Shock waves are sudden discontinuities propagated in compressible media – usually air.

2. (mathematics) A point in the range of a function at which it is undefined or discontinuous. [from 19th c.]
3. (geology) a subterranean interface at which seismic velocities change

Derived terms

• Gutenberg discontinuity
• Mohorovičić discontinuity
• discontinuous

Translations