Comet

Pronunciation

• enPR: kŏm'É™t, IPA: /ˈkÉ’mÉ™t/
• Rhymes: -É’mɪt

Origin

From Old French comete (French: comète), from Latin cometes, from Ancient Greek κομήτης (komētēs, "longhaired"), referring to the tail of a comet, from κόμη (komē, "hair").

Full definition of comet

Noun

1. (astronomy) A celestial body consisting mainly of ice, dust and gas in a (usually very eccentric) orbit around the Sun and having a "tail" of matter blown back from it by the solar wind as it approaches the Sun.
2. A celestial phenomenon with the appearance given by the orbiting celestial body.

Synonyms

• faxed star

Derived terms

• cometary
• cometoid
• exocomet

Related terms

• periodic comet