Adjacent Words

Comma definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COMMA, n.
1. In writing and printing, this point [,] denoting the shortest pause in reading, and separating a sentence into divisions or members, according to the construction. Thus, There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. Virtue, wit, knowledge, are excellent accomplishments. Live soberly, righteously, and piously, in the present world.
2. In music, an enharmonic interval, being the eighth part of a tone, or the difference between a major and a minor semitone; a term used in theoretic music to show the exact proportions between concords.
3. Distinction.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a punctuation mark (,) used to indicate the separation of elements within the grammatical structure of a sentence
2: anglewing butterfly with a comma-shaped mark on the underside of each hind wing [syn: comma, comma butterfly, Polygonia comma]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Late Latin, from Latin, part of a sentence, from Greek komma segment, clause, from koptein to cut — more at capon Date: 1554 1. a punctuation mark, used especially as a mark of separation within the sentence 2. pause, interval 3. any of several nymphalid butterflies (genus Polygonia) with a silvery comma-shaped mark on the underside of the hind wings

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a punctuation mark (,) indicating a pause between parts of a sentence, or dividing items in a list, string of figures, etc. 2 Mus. a definite minute interval or difference of pitch. Phrases and idioms: comma bacillus a comma-shaped bacillus causing cholera. Etymology: L f. Gk komma clause

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Comma Com"ma, n. [L. comma part of a sentence, comma, Gr. ? clause, fr. ? to cut off. Cf. Capon.] 1. A character or point [,] marking the smallest divisions of a sentence, written or printed. 2. (Mus.) A small interval (the difference between a major and minor half step), seldom used except by tuners. Comma bacillus (Physiol.), a variety of bacillus shaped like a comma, found in the intestines of patients suffering from cholera. It is considered by some as having a special relation to the disease; -- called also cholera bacillus. Comma butterfly (Zo["o]l.), an American butterfly (Grapta comma), having a white comma-shaped marking on the under side of the wings.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(commas) A comma is the punctuation mark , which is used to separate parts of a sentence or items in a list. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

ampersand, angle brackets, apostrophe, boundary, braces, caesura, colon, dash, decimal point, diagonal, dot, ellipsis, exclamation mark, full stop, hyphen, interval, juncture, lull, parens, parentheses, pause, period, point, question mark, quotation marks, quotes, semicolon, single quotes, solidus, stop, virgule