The word continence come from the Latin continentia which means "a holding back.” It hasn’t changed much — continence means holding back bodily functions. It’s often used in the negative, incontinence, which describes a situation you get into with babies or sick people, where they can’t control their bowels. In another sense, continence is a little like abstinence, but while abstinence is refraining from sex, usually for a religious reason, continence refers to the ability to do so.