comma

noun

(typography) The punctuation mark ⟨,⟩ used to indicate a set of parts of a sentence or between elements of a list.

(genetics) A delimiting marker between items in a genetic sequence.

(figurative) A brief interval.

(Romanian typography) A similar-looking subscript diacritical mark.

(entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Polygonia, having a comma-shaped white mark on the underwings, especially Polygonia c-album and Polygonia c-aureum of North Africa, Europe, and Asia.

(music) A difference in the calculation of nearly identical intervals by different ways.

(rhetoric) In Ancient Greek rhetoric, a short clause, something less than a colon, originally denoted by comma marks. In antiquity it was defined as a combination of words having no more than eight syllables in all. It was later applied to longer phrases, e.g. the Johannine comma.

verb

(rare, transitive) To place a comma or commas within text; to follow, precede, or surround a portion of text with commas.

Roots

kommacomma- · Greek · clause, piece cut off

Synonyms for comma

semicolonn apostrophen ellipsisn virgulen parenthesesn ampersandn

Synonyms & related words for comma

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of comma — including semicolon, apostrophe, ellipsis, virgule, parentheses, ampersand. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to comma

Explore words related to comma — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include punctuation, hyphens, delimiter, parenthetical, parenthesis, backslash, hyphened, hyphenation. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for comma

Common synonyms for comma include semicolon, apostrophe, ellipsis, virgule, parentheses, ampersand — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does comma come from?

The word comma breaks down into one root of Greek origin: the root comma-, from Greek komma (“clause, piece cut off”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.