comet

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A small icy body in space that travels around the Sun and grows a bright glowing tail as it gets close to it.

   Thousands of people went outside at night to watch the comet pass across the sky.

From Middle English comete, partly from Old English comēta and partly from Old French comete, both from Latin comētēs, from Ancient Greek κομήτης (komḗtēs, “longhaired”), short for ἀστὴρ κομήτης ([astēr] komētēs, "longhaired [star])" and referring to the tail of a comet, from κόμη (kómē, “hair”). Compare English faxed star and Latin crīnīta stēlla (“comet”, literally “(long) haired star”).

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