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comment

 - 5 dictionary results

com⋅ment

  [kom-ent]
Use comment in a Sentence
–noun
1. a remark, observation, or criticism: a comment about the weather.
2. gossip; talk: His frequent absences gave rise to comment.
3. a criticism or interpretation, often by implication or suggestion: The play is a comment on modern society.
4. a note in explanation, expansion, or criticism of a passage in a book, article, or the like; annotation.
5. explanatory or critical matter added to a text.
6. Also called rheme. Linguistics. the part of a sentence that communicates new information about the topic. Compare topic (def. 4).
–verb (used without object)
7. to make remarks, observations, or criticisms: He refused to comment on the decision of the court.
8. to write explanatory or critical notes upon a text.
–verb (used with object)
9. to make comments or remarks on; furnish with comments; annotate.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME coment < L commentum device, fabrication (LL: interpretation, commentary), n. use of neut. of commentus (ptp. of comminīscī to devise), equiv. to com- com- + men- (base of mēns, mentis mind ) + -tus ptp. ending

Related forms:
com⋅ment⋅a⋅ble, adjective
com⋅ment⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. See remark. 4. addendum, commentary. 8. annotate, elucidate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To comment
com·ment   (kŏm'ěnt)   
n.  

    1. A written note intended as an explanation, illustration, or criticism of a passage in a book or other writing; an annotation.

    2. A series of annotations or explanations.

    3. A statement of fact or opinion, especially a remark that expresses a personal reaction or attitude.

    4. An implied conclusion or judgment: a novel that is a comment on contemporary lawlessness.

    1. A statement of fact or opinion, especially a remark that expresses a personal reaction or attitude.

    2. An implied conclusion or judgment: a novel that is a comment on contemporary lawlessness.

  3. Talk; gossip: a divorce that caused much comment.

  4. Computer Science A string of text in a program that does not function in the program itself but is used by the programmer to explain instructions.

  5. Linguistics The part of a sentence that provides new information about the topic. Also called rheme.

v.   com·ment·ed, com·ment·ing, com·ments

v.   intr.

  1. To make a comment; remark.

  2. To serve as a judgmental commentary: "Her demise comments on [the Upper East Side's] entire way of life" (Mark Muro).

v.   tr.
To make comments on; annotate.

[Middle English, from Late Latin commentum, interpretation, from Latin, contrivance, from neuter past participle of comminīscī, to devise; see men-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These nouns denote an expression of fact, opinion, or explanation: made an unpleasant comment about my friend; a casual observation about the movie; an offensive personal remark.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

comment  (n.)
c.1400, L. commentum in L.L. "comment, interpretation," lit. "invention," neut. pp. of comminisci "to contrive, devise," from com- intens. prefix + base of meminisse "to remember," related to mens (gen. mentis) "mind." Original L. meaning was "something invented;" taken by Isidore and other Christian theologians for "interpretation, annotation." The verb is from c.1450. Commentator in the sports announcer sense is from 1928. No comment as a stock refusal to answer a journalist's question is first recorded 1950, from Truman's White House press secretary, Charles Ross.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: com·ment
Function: noun
1 often cap a : an essay analyzing, criticizing, or explaining a subject comment published in the Yale Law Review> b : an explanatory remark appended to a section of text (as of enacted code)
2 : an expression of an opinion or attitude about something: as a : a remark to a jury by a judge or prosecutor about evidence
NOTE: A prosecutor may not remark to the jury that a defendant's failure to testify implies guilt, and a judge may not remark to the jury his or her opinion about what the evidence does or does not prove. b : a written expression of opinion or information solicited by an agency about a subject of its rulemaking —see also INFORMAL RULEMAKING
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

comment programming
(Or "remark") Explanatory text embedded in program source (or less often data) intended to help human readers understand it.
Code completely without comments is often hard to read, but code with too many comments is also bad, especially if the comments are not kept up-to-date with changes to the code. Too much commenting may mean that the code is over-complicated. A good rule is to comment everything that needs it but write code that doesn't need much of it. Comments that explain __why__ something is done and how the code relates to its environment are useful.
A particularly irksome form of over-commenting explains exactly what each statement does, even when it is obvious to any reasonably competant programmer, e.g.
/* Open the input file */ infd = open(input_file, O_RDONLY);
(2007-02-19)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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