continuance n.

mid-14c., contynuen, "maintain, sustain, preserve;" late 14c., "go forward or onward; persevere in," from Old French continuer (13c.) and directly from Latin continuare "join together in uninterrupted succession, make or be continuous, do successively one after another," from continuus "joining, connecting with something; following one after another," from continere (intransitive) "to be uninterrupted," literally "to hang together" (see contain). Related: Continued; continuing.

Sense of "to carry on from the point of suspension" is from early 15c. Meaning "to remain in a state, place, or office" is from early 15c. Transitive sense of "to extend from one point to another" is from 1660s. Meaning "to postpone a hearing or trial" is from mid-15c.