comet

C3O1M3E1T1
/ˈkɒmɪt//ˈkɑmət/

noun

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.

Similar
☄faxed star
OriginMiddle English comete ← Old English comēta ← Old French comete →
CommonScrabble 9
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Meanings

comet1

nouncomet (plural comets)

plural comets

  1. astronomyA 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.
    1 more example

    And They made by the lifting of Their hands, each god according to his sign, the Bright One with the flaring tail to seek from the end of the Worlds to the end of them again, to return again after a hundred years. Man, when thou seest the comet, know that another seeketh besides thee nor ever findeth out.

    1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC
  2. A celestial phenomenon with the appearance of such a body.

    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.

    c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii
  3. Any of several species of hummingbird found in the Andes.

Comet2

proper noun
  1. The fifth reindeer of Santa Claus.

Comet3

proper noun
  1. computingA web application model in which a long-held HTTP request allows a web server to push data to a browser, without the browser explicitly requesting it.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
☄faxed star

Origin

comet · noun

  1. Ancient Greekκομήτης“longhaired”
  2. Latincomētēs
  3. Old Frenchcomete
  4. Old Englishcomēta
  5. Middle Englishcomete
  6. Englishcomet

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”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Comet · proper noun

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From comet.

Full word history & related roots →

Comet · proper noun

Coined by software engineer Alex Russell in March 2006. After the Comet brand of cleaning products, as a pun on Ajax, which is also both a Web programming technique and a brand of cleaning products.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans komeet
  • komeeta celestial body, generally with a tail
Ancient Greek κομήτης
  • κομήτης (komḗtēs)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Arabic مُذَنَّب
  • مُذَنَّب (muḏannab)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Basque kometa
  • kometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
Bengali ধূমকেতু
  • ধূমকেতু (dhumketu)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Bulgarian коме́та
  • коме́та (kométa)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Catalan cometa
  • cometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
Chinese Cantonese 彗星, 掃把星 /扫把星
  • 彗星a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • 掃把星 /扫把星a celestial body, generally with a tail
Chinese Mandarin 彗星, 掃帚星 /扫帚星
  • 彗星 (huìxīng)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • 掃帚星 /扫帚星 (sàozhǒuxīng)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • 掃把星 /扫把星 (sàobǎxīng)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • 彗星 (Huìxīng)reindeer of Santa Claus
Czech kometa
  • kometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
Danish komet
  • kometa celestial body, generally with a tail
Dutch komeet, staartster
  • komeeta celestial body, generally with a tail
  • staartstera celestial body, generally with a tail
Esperanto kometo
  • kometoa celestial body, generally with a tail
Estonian komeet, sabatäht
  • komeeta celestial body, generally with a tail
  • sabatähta celestial body, generally with a tail
Finnish komeetta, pyrstötähti
  • komeettaa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • pyrstötähtia celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Komeettareindeer of Santa Claus
French comète, Comète
  • comètea celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Comètereindeer of Santa Claus
German Komet
  • Kometa celestial body, generally with a tail
Greek κομήτης, Κομήτης
  • κομήτης (komítis)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Κομήτης (Komítis)reindeer of Santa Claus
Hebrew שָׁבִיט, כּוֹכַב שָׁבִיט
  • שָׁבִיט (shavít)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • כּוֹכַב שָׁבִיט (kokháv shavít)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Hindi धूमकेतु, केतुग्रह
  • धूमकेतु (dhūmketu)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • केतुग्रह (ketugrah)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • पुच्छल तारा (pucchal tārā)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • केतु (ketu)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • केतुतारा (ketutārā)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Hungarian üstökös
  • üstökösa celestial body, generally with a tail
Icelandic halastjarna
  • halastjarnaa celestial body, generally with a tail
Indonesian komet
  • kometa celestial body, generally with a tail
Irish cóiméad
  • cóiméada celestial body, generally with a tail
Italian cometa, Cometa
  • cometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Cometareindeer of Santa Claus
Japanese 彗星, 箒星
  • 彗星 (suisei)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • 箒星 (hōkiboshi)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • コメット (Kometto)reindeer of Santa Claus
Korean 혜성
  • 혜성 (hyeseong)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Latin comētēs, stella crītīna
  • comētēsa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • stella crītīnaa celestial body, generally with a tail
Latvian komēta
  • komētaa celestial body, generally with a tail
Lithuanian kometa
  • kometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
Malay komet
  • kometa celestial body, generally with a tail
Māori unahiroa, whetūrere
  • unahiroaa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • whetūrerea celestial body, generally with a tail
Norwegian Bokmål komet
  • kometa celestial body, generally with a tail
Polish kometa, Kometek
  • kometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Kometekreindeer of Santa Claus
Portuguese cometa, Cometa
  • cometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Cometareindeer of Santa Claus
Punjabi ਧੂਮਕੇਤੂ
  • ਧੂਮਕੇਤੂ (dhūmketū)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Romanian cometă
  • cometăa celestial body, generally with a tail
Russian коме́та
  • коме́та (kométa)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Scottish Gaelic reul-chearbach, reul earballach
  • reul-chearbacha celestial body, generally with a tail
  • reul earballacha celestial body, generally with a tail
Slovak kométa
  • kométaa celestial body, generally with a tail
Spanish cometa, guashuma
  • cometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • guashumaa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Cometareindeer of Santa Claus
  • Velozreindeer of Santa Claus
Swedish komet
  • kometa celestial body, generally with a tail
Tagalog barikod, kometa
  • barikoda celestial body, generally with a tail
  • kometaa celestial body, generally with a tail
  • bandusa celestial body, generally with a tail
Tamil வால்வெள்ளி
  • வால்வெள்ளி (vālveḷḷi)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Thai ดาวหาง
  • ดาวหาง (daao-hǎang)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Turkish kuyruklu yıldız
  • kuyruklu yıldıza celestial body, generally with a tail
Ukrainian коме́та
  • коме́та (kométa)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Urdu کومِٹ, دُم دار تارا
  • کومِٹ (komiṭ)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • دُم دار تارا (dum dār tārā)a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • دُومْکیت (dūmket)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Vietnamese sao chổi
  • sao chổia celestial body, generally with a tail
Welsh comed
  • comeda celestial body, generally with a tail
Yiddish קאָמעט
  • קאָמעט (komet)a celestial body, generally with a tail
Zulu inkanyezi enomsila
  • inkanyezi enomsilaa celestial body, generally with a tail

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with comet

vomitgrommetgreat comet
All rhymes →

Anagrams

comte
Cite this entry
APA

comet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comet

MLA

“comet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comet. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “comet,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comet.

Source: comet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.