comet
[ kom-it ]
/ ˈkɒm ɪt /
noun Astronomy.
a celestial body moving about the sun, usually in a highly eccentric orbit, consisting of a central mass surrounded by an envelope of dust and gas that may form a tail that streams away from the sun.
Origin of comet
1150–1200; Middle English
comete < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin
comētēs,
comēta < Greek
komḗtēs wearing long hair, equivalent to
komē-, variant stem of
komân to let one's hair grow (derivative of
kómē hair) +
-tēs agent suffix
OTHER WORDS FROM comet
com·et·ar·y [kom-i-ter-ee] /ˈkɒm ɪˌtɛr i/, co·met·ic [kuh-met-ik] /kəˈmɛt ɪk/, co·met·i·cal, adjective com·et·like, adjectiveWords nearby comet
Example sentences from the Web for cometary
British Dictionary definitions for cometary
comet
/ (ˈkɒmɪt) /
noun
a celestial body that travels around the sun, usually in a highly elliptical orbit: thought to consist of a solid frozen nucleus part of which vaporizes on approaching the sun to form a gaseous luminous coma and a long luminous tail
Derived forms of comet
cometary or cometic (kɒˈmɛtɪk), adjectiveWord Origin for comet
C13: from Old French
comète, from Latin
comēta, from Greek
komētēs long-haired, from
komē hair
Scientific definitions for cometary
comet
[ kŏm′ĭt ]
A celestial object that orbits the Sun along an elongated path. A comet that is not near the Sun consists only of a nucleus-a solid core of frozen water, frozen gases, and dust. When a comet comes close to the Sun, its nucleus heats up and releases a gaseous coma that surrounds the nucleus. A comet forms a tail when solar heat or wind forces dust or gas off its coma, with the tail always streaming away from the Sun.♦ Short-period comets have orbital periods of less than 200 years and come from the region known as the Kuiper belt. Long-period comets have periods greater than 200 years and come from the Oort cloud. See more at Kuiper belt Oort cloud. See Note at solar system.
Cultural definitions for cometary
comet
An object that enters the inner solar system, typically in a very elongated orbit around the sun. Material is boiled off from the comet by the heat of the sun, so that a characteristic tail is formed. The path of a comet can be in the form of an ellipse or a hyperbola. If it follows a hyperbolic path, it enters the solar system once and then leaves forever. If its path is an ellipse, it stays in orbit around the sun.
notes for comet
Comets were once believed to be omens, and their appearances in the sky were greatly feared or welcomed.
notes for comet
The most famous comet, Comet Halley (or Halley's comet), passes close to the
Earth roughly every seventy-six years, most recently in 1986.