In phonetics, a type of consonant sound that can be prolonged or held without interruption, such as 's', 'f', or 'l'.
From Latin continuant-, present participle of continuare (to continue). In linguistic terminology, -ant is used to describe agents or things that perform an action or maintain a state.
Your voice can sustain continuants forever—try holding out the 'ssss' sound in 'yes'—but try holding a 'p' and you'll see why it's a 'stop' consonant instead. This phonetic distinction is why some languages' sound systems seem easier than others.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.