What does comma mean?

Definitions for comma
ˈkɒm əcom·ma

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word comma.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. commanoun

    a punctuation mark (,) used to indicate the separation of elements within the grammatical structure of a sentence

  2. comma, comma butterfly, Polygonia commanoun

    anglewing butterfly with a comma-shaped mark on the underside of each hind wing

Wiktionary

  1. commanoun

    Punctuation mark , (usually indicating a pause between parts of a sentence or between elements in a list).

  2. commanoun

    A diacritical mark used below certain letters in Romanian.

  3. commanoun

    A European and North American butterfly, Polygonia c-album, of the family Nymphalidae.

  4. commanoun

    a small or very small interval between two enharmonic notes tuned in different ways.

  5. Etymology: From comma, from κόμμα, from κόπτω

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Commanoun

    Etymology: ϰόμμα.

    Comma’s and points they set exactly right. Alexander Pope.

Wikipedia

  1. Comma

    The comma , is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark (’) in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical. Other fonts give it the appearance of a miniature filled-in figure 9 on the baseline. The comma is used in many contexts and languages, mainly to separate parts of a sentence such as clauses, and items in lists mainly when there are three or more items listed. The word comma comes from the Greek κόμμα (kómma), which originally meant a cut-off piece, specifically in grammar, a short clause.A comma-shaped mark is used as a diacritic in several writing systems and is considered distinct from the cedilla. In Byzantine and modern copies of Ancient Greek, the "rough" and "smooth breathings" (ἁ, ἀ) appear above the letter. In Latvian, Romanian, and Livonian, the comma diacritic appears below the letter, as in ș. For the notation ⟨x⟩ and /x/ used in this article, see grapheme and phoneme, respectively.

ChatGPT

  1. comma

    A comma is a punctuation mark in written language that represents a pause in a sentence or separates different elements within a list or sentence. It is used to clarify meaning by indicating a separation of words, phrases, or clauses. The symbol for a comma is (,).

Webster Dictionary

  1. Commanoun

    a character or point [,] marking the smallest divisions of a sentence, written or printed

  2. Commanoun

    a small interval (the difference between a major and minor half step), seldom used except by tuners

  3. Etymology: [L. comma part of a sentence, comma, Gr. clause, fr. to cut off. Cf. Capon.]

Wikidata

  1. Comma

    The comma is a punctuation mark, and it appears in several variants in various languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight but inclined from the vertical, or with the appearance of a small, filled-in number 9. It is used to separate parts of a sentence such as clauses and lists of three or more things. The comma is used in many contexts and languages, mainly for separating things. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word comma comes directly from the Greek komma, which means something cut off or a short clause. A comma can also be used as a diacritic when combined with other characters.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Comma

    kom′a, n. (Shak.) a short part of a sentence: in punctuation, the point (,) which marks the smallest division of a sentence: (fig.) a brief interval.—Inverted commas, marks of quotation ("..", '..'). [L.,—Gr. komma, a section of a sentence, from koptein, to cut off.]

Editors Contribution

  1. comma

    A type of known symbol to accurately define meaning and grammatical structure.

    A comma can create a specific meaning in a sentence according to where it is placed, in various languages


    Submitted by MaryC on March 17, 2017  

Suggested Resources

  1. comma

    The comma symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the comma symbol and its characteristic.

  2. Comma

    Coma vs. Comma -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Coma and Comma.

British National Corpus

  1. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'comma' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4734

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce comma?

How to say comma in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of comma in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of comma in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of comma in a Sentence

  1. Wilbur Ross:

    The big topics like that are still a work in progress. And those are very complex issues, particularly rules of origin, so eventually it will come down to every comma, every semicolon, everything before we can figure out if it's something that's workable.

  2. Mistinguett:

    A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That's basic spelling that every woman ought to know.

  3. Elizabeth Clarkson Zwart:

    The older I grow, the less important the comma becomes. Let the reader catch his own breath.

  4. Marcel Proust:

    People who are not in love fail to understand how an intelligent man can suffer because of a very ordinary woman. This is like being surprised that anyone should be stricken with cholera because of a creature so insignificant as the comma bacillus.

  5. Larry Wall:

    The purpose of most computer languages is to lengthen your resume by a word and a comma.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

comma#10000#14656#100000

Translations for comma

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"comma." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/comma>.

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