discontinuity

From Late Latin discontinuitas, from discontinuus.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌdɪskɒntɪˈnjuːɪti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌdɪskɑntɪˈnuːɪti/

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

• Gutenberg discontinuity
• Mohorovičić discontinuity
• discontinuous