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View synonyms for comma

comma

[ kom-uh ]

noun

  1. the sign (,), a mark of punctuation used for indicating a division in a sentence, as in setting off a word, phrase, or clause, especially when such a division is accompanied by a slight pause or is to be noted in order to give order to the sequential elements of the sentence. It is also used to separate items in a list, to mark off thousands in numerals, to separate types or levels of information in bibliographic and other data, and, in many European countries, as a decimal point.
  2. Classical Prosody.
    1. a fragment or smaller section of a colon.
    2. the part of dactylic hexameter beginning or ending with the caesura.
    3. the caesura itself.
  3. Music. the minute, virtually unheard difference in pitch between two enharmonic tones, as G♯ and A♭.
  4. any of several nymphalid butterflies, including the North American Polygonia comma, having a comma-shaped silver mark on the underside of each hindwing.


comma

/ ˈkɒmə /

noun

  1. the punctuation mark(,) indicating a slight pause in the spoken sentence and used where there is a listing of items or to separate a nonrestrictive clause or phrase from a main clause
  2. music a minute interval
  3. short for comma butterfly


comma

  1. A punctuation mark (,) used to indicate pauses and to separate elements within a sentence. “The forest abounds with oak, elm, and beech trees”; “The bassoon player was born in Roanoke, Virginia, on December 29, 1957.”


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Word History and Origins

Origin of comma1

First recorded in 1520–30; from Late Latin: “mark of punctuation,” Latin: “division of a phrase,” from Greek kómma “piece cut off” (referring to the phrase so marked), equivalent to kop- (base of kóptein “to cut, gnaw, strike”) + -ma, noun suffix

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Word History and Origins

Origin of comma1

C16: from Latin, from Greek komma clause, from koptein to cut

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Example Sentences

Can it be exported to Excel, or a comma-separated file, for instance?

It was more like punctuation, a real life comma that emphasizes the constant pressures of our daily schedule.

Sort of a combination grammar and punctuation problem, is what I call the “however comma splice.”

Power is the subject, and the execution is precise—even if this book will make you miss the comma terribly.

Is it a kind of punctuation, part comma, part full stop, part interrogatory mark?

It was bordered by trees for almost its entire length on both sides, and it was shaped like a enormous, elongated comma.

Page 229 Chapter X a comma was inserted in the phrase 'he would secure the competence he had yearned for, for so many years'.

It was done to please him; for I omitted neither accent, nor comma, nor the minutest tittle of all he had marked down.

Lucas bore it patiently; he didn't want his great-grandchildren and Elaine's shooting it out over a matter of a misplaced comma.

And even if nobody read it through, not even a reviewer, I should have to without skipping a word or a comma.

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comm.comma bacillus