continuous variable

n. A variable for which any value within the limits of the variable range is possible; as such, it is always possible to break down a continuous variable into an infinite number of smaller parts. For example, time is a continuous variable as the time required to complete a task can be differentiated via an infinite breakdown from hours to minutes to seconds to milliseconds, and so on. While it can be theoretically argued that no measured variable is truly continuous, variables that can be measured with considerable precision are typically considered continuous variables. Variables that are not continuous are called discrete variables.

- BJM