comet

CEFRC1

/ˈkɒmɪt/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    An object in space with a bright tail when near the sun.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A celestial phenomenon with the appearance of such a body.

Examples

  • Halley's Comet comes round once every eighty years.

  • Halley's Comet will come back in 2061.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Any of several species of hummingbird found in the Andes.

  2. A small Solar System body consisting mainly of volatile ice, dust and particles of rock whose very eccentric solar orbit periodically brings it close enough to the Sun that the ice vaporises to form an atmosphere, or coma, which may be blown by the solar wind to produce a visible tail.

More examples

In context

  • He claimed that he had discovered a new comet.

  • Upon his browes was pourtraid vgly death, And in his eies the furies of his heart, That ſhine as Comets, menacing reueng, And caſts a pale complexion on his cheeks.

Synonyms

Quick test

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Last night, we saw a bright blank streaking across the dark sky.

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Nearby

Origin

noun

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”).