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If things are going well I can easily spend twelve hours a day writing, but not writing writing, just thinking and revising and taking a comma out and putting it back in.
Francine Prose

Meaning of "comma" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD COMMA

From Latin, from Greek komma clause, from koptein to cut.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF COMMA

comma  [ˈkɒmə] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF COMMA

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Comma is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES COMMA MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Comma

The comma, from the Greek κόμμα komma, 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.

Definition of comma in the English dictionary

The definition of comma in the dictionary is 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. Other definition of comma is a minute interval.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH COMMA


bomber
ˈbɒmə
brommer
ˈbrɒmə
dotcommer
ˌdɒtˈkɒmə
homa
ˈhɒmə
momma
ˈmɒmə
prommer
ˈprɒmə
superbomber
ˈsuːpərˌbɒmə

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE COMMA

comm.
comma bacillus
comma butterfly
command
command and control
command economy
command guidance
command key
command language
command line
command module
command paper
command performance
command post
commandable
commandant
commandantship
commandeer
commander
commander in chief

WORDS THAT END LIKE COMMA

agrostemma
dhamma
digamma
dilemma
emma
gamma
gemma
Glomma
gramma
gumma
inverted comma
lemma
limma
mamma
maremma
on the horns of a dilemma
Oxford comma
sarcolemma
stemma
summa

Synonyms and antonyms of comma in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «comma» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF COMMA

Find out the translation of comma to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of comma from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «comma» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

逗号
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

coma
570 millions of speakers

English

comma
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

अल्पविराम
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

فَاصِلَة
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

запятая
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

vírgula
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

কমা
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

virgule
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Koma
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Komma
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

コンマ
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

쉼표
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Koma
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

dấu phẩy
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

கமா
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

कॉमा
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

virgül
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

virgola
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

przecinek
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

кома
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

virgulă
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

κόμμα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

komma
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

komma
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

komma
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of comma

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «COMMA»

The term «comma» is very widely used and occupies the 11.287 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
95
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «comma» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of comma
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «comma».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «COMMA» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «comma» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «comma» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about comma

EXAMPLES

6 QUOTES WITH «COMMA»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word comma.
1
Winston Graham
Give me the comma of imperfect striving, thus to find zest in the immediate living. Ever the reaching but never the gaining, ever the climbing but never the attaining of the mountain top.
2
Pico Iyer
To me, part of the beauty of a comma is that it offers a rest, like one in music: a break that gives the whole piece of music greater shape, deeper harmony. It allows us to catch our breath.
3
Alice Oswald
If you bend a branch until it's horizontal, the sap will slow to a stopping point: a comma or colon, made of leaves grown into one another and over one another and hardened. Out of this pause comes a flower, which unfolds itself in spirals, as if the leaf form, unable to keep to its line, had begun to pivot.
4
Francine Prose
If things are going well I can easily spend twelve hours a day writing, but not writing writing, just thinking and revising and taking a comma out and putting it back in.
5
Geoffrey Rush
Yeah, well, the F-bomb - it's become as ubiquitous as the word 'like.' People just throw the word 'like' around as punctuation. And I think in a lot of everyday speech, the F-bomb has become a kind of dash or a comma.
6
Joey Santiago
It's always nice to end your sentences with an exclamation mark, and not a comma.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «COMMA»

Discover the use of comma in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to comma and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Comma
Introduces readers to the proper use of common punctuation marks.
Mary Elizabeth Salzmann, 2010
2
Comma
"This collection of short stories by 15 contemporary writers shows a remarkable variety.
Michael Bracewell, Ra Page, 2002
3
Lapsing Into a Comma : A Curmudgeon's Guide to the: A ...
In an opinionated, humorous, and yes, curmudgeonly way, he shows how to apply the basic rules to unique, modern grammar issues. Walsh explains how to deal with perplexing situations such as trendy words, foreign terms, and web speak.
Bill Walsh, William F. Walsh, 2000
4
Comma Sutra: Position Yourself For Success With Good Grammar
A whimsical, offbeat approach to grammar for both novice and experienced writers provides helpful guidelines for sentence construction, the effective use of modifiers, punctuation, and other problem areas in such entertaining sections as ...
Laurie Rozakis, 2005
5
Comma Sense: A Fun-damental Guide to Punctuation
But this book is way more than a flight of whimsy.
Richard Lederer, John Shore, 2007
6
If You Were a Comma
If you were a comma, you would separate words. You could put Walter, Roxie, and Harry on a team. You could go skating, sledding, or hiking. What else could you do if you were a comma?
Molly Blaisdell, 2009
7
A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That: A Novel
Hauntingly observant and insightful, this poignant debut novel delves into the intricate bonds between mothers and daughters and offers an unflinching, darkly funny look at the relationships between love, sex, and death.
Lisa Glatt, 2007
8
Which Comes First, the Comma Or the Pause? a Practical Guide ...
This book takes the mystery out of how to produce good writing by untangling core concepts and making them easy to learn. Here is a promise: Read this book from cover to cover, and you will bring your writing to a higher level.
Dona J. Young, 2009
9
Brief introduction to the 'syntonic comma', the 'Pythagorean ...
This essay is a brief introduction to Pythagorean tuning and explains the occurence of the Pythagorean comma, the syntonic comma and the schisma and a few methods that have been developed to eliminate the problem.
Dina Heß, 2012
10
You Comma Idiot
A hip, comedic novel, Doug Harris’s YOU comma Idiot is a dark, demented, deeply delightful excursion into youthful alienation and ennui.
Doug Harris, 2010

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «COMMA»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term comma is used in the context of the following news items.
1
UTS banishes comma that made it an 'orphan'
It has a history dating back to ancient Greece but the humble comma has been ditched by the University of Technology, Sydney — which will ... «The Australian, Jul 15»
2
Jorge Luis Borges's infinite 'Library of Babel' has been digitized
The digital library has 29 possible characters (26 letters, space period, and comma) that are each randomly assigned to the 3,200 spaces on a ... «Quartz, Jul 15»
3
The age of the professional showoff
I'm embarrassed when I put a comma before “but” when it follows a negative predicate. As in: Having few Twitter followers isn't only ... «Washington Post, Jul 15»
4
18F style guide pushes clear, accessible writing for web
The guide covers basic style elements like capitalization, comma usage and acronyms, as well as advice on technical writing and how to avoid ... «Federal Times, Jul 15»
5
Joe's Weather Blog: Round 2 likely…some get it worse (TUE-7/7)
The developing storm will have a full fledged comma-head, much like a mature winter storm would have. Instead of being fed by a large ... «fox4kc.com, Jul 15»
6
Other Views: Repeal Nixon-era ban on oil exports
After all, the ban is a 1970s-era policy whose authors didn't devote so much as a comma of text or a syllable of testimony to climate change. «Dickinson Press, Jul 15»
7
Love, Blog Me Do. (You Know I Blog You.)
Promise me you'll use the serial comma. Promise me you'll stop haranguing me and my buddies about singular they, and instead you'll start ... «Chronicle of Higher Education, Jul 15»
8
A semicolon to a depression-free life!
It's a pause; not as short as a comma, neither long enough to qualify as a period. The Oxford dictionary defines it as "A break in a sentence that ... «Times of India, Jul 15»
9
Missing Comma Gets Woman Out Of A Parking Ticket
She said that there needed to be a comma between vehicle and camper. RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. «NPR, Jul 15»
10
This Video Explains How to Properly Use Semicolons In Your Writing
Is it a comma? Or is it a period? It's neither, and while it might seem silly to think of semicolons as confusing punctuation, improper use of it is ... «Lifehacker, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Comma [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/comma>. Apr 2024 ».
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