The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Continuance \Con*tin"u*ance\, n. [OF. continuance.]
   1. A holding on, or remaining in a particular state;
      permanence, as of condition, habits, abode, etc.;
      perseverance; constancy; duration; stay.
      [1913 Webster]

            Great plagues, and of long continuance. --Deut.
                                                  xxviii. 59.
      [1913 Webster]

            Patient continuance in well-doing.    --Rom. ii. 7.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Uninterrupted succession; continuation; constant renewal;
      perpetuation; propagation.
      [1913 Webster]

            The brute immediately regards his own preservation
            or the continuance of his species.    --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A holding together; continuity. [Obs.] --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Law)
      (a) The adjournment of the proceedings in a cause from one
          day, or from one stated term of a court, to another.
      (b) The entry of such adjournment and the grounds thereof
          on the record.
          [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

continuance
    n 1: the act of continuing an activity without interruption
         [syn: continuance, continuation] [ant:
         discontinuance, discontinuation]
    2: the period of time during which something continues [syn:
       duration, continuance]
    3: the property of enduring or continuing in time [syn:
       duration, continuance]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

90 Moby Thesaurus words for "continuance":
   PS, Parthian shot, abidingness, addendum, afterthought, age,
   antiquity, appendix, back matter, ceaselessness, chorus, coda,
   codicil, coeternity, colophon, conclusion, consequence, constancy,
   continualness, continuation, defeat of time, defiance of time,
   diuturnity, double take, durability, durableness, duration,
   dying words, endlessness, endurance, envoi, epilogue, eternalness,
   eternity, ever-duringness, everlastingness, everness,
   follow-through, follow-up, foreverness, immutability, incessancy,
   indestructibility, infinite duration, infinity, interminability,
   last words, lastingness, long standing, long-lastingness,
   long-livedness, longevity, maintenance, never-endingness,
   parting shot, perdurability, perennation, perenniality,
   perennialness, permanence, peroration, perpetualness, perpetuity,
   persistence, postface, postfix, postlude, postscript, refrain, run,
   second thought, sempiternity, sequel, sequela, sequelae, sequelant,
   sequent, sequitur, stability, standing, steadfastness, subscript,
   suffix, supplement, survival, survivance, swan song, tag,
   timelessness, unceasingness



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CONTINUANCE, practice. The adjournment of a cause from one day to another is
called a continuance, an entry of which is made upon the record.
     2. If these continuances are omitted, the cause is thereby
discontinued, and the defendant is discharged sine die, (q.v.) without a
day, for this term. By his appearance he has obeyed the command of the writ,
and, unless he be adjourned over to a certain day, he is no longer bound to
attend upon that summons. 3 Bl. Com. 316.
     3. Continuances may, however, be entered at any time, and if not
entered, the want of them is aided or cured by the appearance of the
parties; and Is a discontinuance can never be objected to pendente placito,
so after the judgment it is cured by the statute of jeofails[?]. Tidd's Pr.
628, 835.
     4. Before the declaration the continuance is by dies datus prece
partium; after the declaration and before issue joined, by imparlance; after
issue joined and before verdict, by vicecomes non misit breve; and after
verdict or demurrer by curia advisare vult. 1 Chit. Pl. 421, n. (p); see
Vin. Abr. 454; Bac. Abr. Pleas, &c. P; Bac. Abr. Trial, H.; Com. Dig.
Pleader, V. See, as to the origin of continuances, Steph. Pl. 31; 1 Ch. Pr.
778, 779.