Standard Lemma guide

comet

name · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈkɒmɪt/
  • /ˈkɑmət/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒmɪt
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA1 M AH0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

The fifth reindeer of Santa Claus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A 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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, programming, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A celestial phenomenon with the appearance of such a body.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Any of several species of hummingbird found in the Andes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

(astronomy) a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: extraterrestrial object, estraterrestrial body

History

Etymology

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

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.

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”).

Across languages

Translations

173 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 彗星 (Huìxīng) — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Finnish: Komeetta — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • French: Comète — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Greek: Κομήτης (Komítis) — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Italian: Cometa — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Japanese: コメット (Kometto) — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Polish: Kometek — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Portuguese: Cometa — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Spanish: Cometa — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Spanish: Veloz — reindeer of Santa Claus
  • Afrikaans: komeet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Albanian: kometë — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Southern Altai: куйрукту јылдыс (kuyruktu ǰïldïs) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Arabic: مُذَنَّب (muḏannab) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Arabic: مذنب (muzanab) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Armenian: գիսաստղ (gisastġ) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Assamese: ধূমকেতু (dhumketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Asturian: cometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Azerbaijani: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Bashkir: комета (kometa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Bashkir: ҡойроҡло йондоҙ (qoyroqlo yondoź) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Basque: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Belarusian: каме́та (kamjéta) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Belarusian: камэ́та (kaméta) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Bengali: ধূমকেতু (dhumketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Breton: steredenn-lostek — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Bulgarian: коме́та (kométa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Burmese: ကြယ်တံခွန် (kraitamhkwan) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Catalan: cometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chechen: комета (kometa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chinese Cantonese: 彗星 — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chinese Cantonese: 掃把星 /扫把星 — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chinese: 長尾星 /长尾星 (zh-min-nan) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chinese: 掃帚星 /扫帚星 (zh-min-nan) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chinese: 彗星 (hūi-chhen, hūi-chhin, hūi-seng) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chinese Mandarin: 彗星 (huìxīng) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chinese Mandarin: 掃帚星 /扫帚星 (sàozhǒuxīng) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Chinese Mandarin: 掃把星 /扫把星 (sàobǎxīng) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Corsican: cumeta — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Czech: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Danish: komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Dhivehi: ގިނިހިލަ (ginihila) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Dutch: komeet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Dutch: staartster — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Esperanto: kometo — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Estonian: komeet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Estonian: sabatäht — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Fijian: kalokalo vaka-buina — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Finnish: komeetta — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Finnish: pyrstötähti — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • French: comète — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • West-Frisian: komeet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Galician: cometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Georgian: კომეტა (ḳomeṭa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • German: Komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Greek: κομήτης (komítis) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Ancient Greek: κομήτης (komḗtēs) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Gujarati: ધૂમકેતુ (dhūmketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Gujarati: પૂંછડિયો તારો (pū̃chḍiyo tāro) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Hebrew: שָׁבִיט (shavít) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Hebrew: כּוֹכַב שָׁבִיט (kokháv shavít) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Hindi: धूमकेतु (dhūmketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Hindi: केतुग्रह (ketugrah) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Hindi: पुच्छल तारा (pucchal tārā) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Hindi: केतु (ketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Hindi: केतुतारा (ketutārā) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Hungarian: üstökös — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Icelandic: halastjarna — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Ido: kometo — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Indonesian: komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Interlingua: cometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Irish: cóiméad — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Italian: cometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Japanese: 彗星 (suisei) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Japanese: 箒星 (hōkiboshi) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Kannada: ಧೂಮಕೇತು (dhūmakētu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Kazakh: құйрықты жұлдыз (qūiryqty jūldyz) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Khmer: ធូមកេតុ (thuumĕəʼkaet) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Khmer: ផ្កាយដុះកន្ទុយ (phkaay doh kɑɑkɑntuy) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Korean: 혜성 (hyeseong) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Kumyk: къуйрукълу юлдуз (quyruqlu yulduz) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Northern Kurdish: komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Northern Kurdish: dûvstêr — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Kyrgyz: комета (kometa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Kyrgyz: куйруктуу жылдыз (kuyruktuu jıldız) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Lao: ດາວຫາງ (dāo hāng) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Latin: comētēs — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Latin: stella crītīna — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Latvian: komēta — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Lithuanian: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • : ᦡᦱᧁᦠᦱᧂ (ḋaawḣaang) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Luxembourgish: Koméit — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Macedonian: коме́та (kométa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Malay: komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Malayalam: ധൂമകേതു (dhūmakētu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Malayalam: വാൽനക്ഷത്രം (vālnakṣatraṁ) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Maltese: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Manchu: ᡝᡵᡳᡴᡠ ᡠᠰᡳᡥᠠ (eriku usiha) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Māori: unahiroa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Māori: whetūrere — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Marathi: धूमकेतू (dhūmketū) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Mi'kmaq: pugtewit — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Mongolian: сүүлт од (süült od) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Nandi: cheptapis — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Navajo: sǫʼtsoh jóhonaaʼéí yináalwołígíí — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Neapolitan: cumeta — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Nepali: धूमकेतु (dhūmketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Norman: conmète — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Norwegian Bokmål: komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Odia: ଧୂମକେତୁ (dhumaketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Okinawan: 箒星 (hōchibushi) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Okinawan: 入り髪星 (iriganbushi) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Pali: dhūmaketu — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Pashto: لکۍ لرونکی ستوری — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Iranian Persian: دُنْبالِهدار (donbâle-dâr) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Iranian Persian: دُنْبالِه دار (donbâle dâr) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Iranian Persian: کومِت (komet) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Polish: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Portuguese: cometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Punjabi: ਧੂਮਕੇਤੂ (dhūmketū) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Romanian: cometă — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Russian: коме́та (kométa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Sanskrit: धूमकेतु (dhūmaketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Sanskrit: केतुतारा (ketutārā) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Sanskrit: उपग्रह (upagraha) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Sanskrit: केतु (ketu) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Scottish Gaelic: reul-chearbach — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Scottish Gaelic: reul earballach — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Serbo-Croatian: коме́та — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Serbo-Croatian: kométa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Shan: လၢဝ်ၵွၼ်း (lǎao káun) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Sicilian: cometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Sindhi: پُڇُڙُ تارو (pučhurru tārow) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Sinhalese: වල්ගාතරු (walgātaru) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Slovak: kométa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Slovene: komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Slovene: repatica — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Somali: seef-cireed — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Somali: dibdheer — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Spanish: cometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Spanish: guashuma — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Swedish: komet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tagalog: barikod — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tagalog: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tagalog: bandus — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tai Nüa: ᥘᥣᥝᥞᥣᥒᥴ (láawhaang) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tajik: комета (kometa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tajik: дунболадор (dunbolador) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tamil: வால்வெள்ளி (vālveḷḷi) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tatar: комета (qömeta) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tày: đao hang — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Telugu: తోకచుక్క (tōkacukka) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Thai: ดาวหาง (daao-hǎang) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tlingit: xoodzí — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Turkish: kuyruklu yıldız — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Ottoman Turkish: قویروقلو یلدز (kuyruklu yıldız) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Turkmen: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Tuvan: кудуруктуг сылдыс (kuduruktug sıldıs) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Udmurt: быжокизили (byžokiźiľi) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Ukrainian: коме́та (kométa) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Urdu: کومِٹ (komiṭ) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Urdu: دُم دار تارا (dum dār tārā) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Urdu: دُومْکیت (dūmket) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Uyghur: قۇيرۇقلۇق يۇلتۇز (quyruqluq yultuz) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Uzbek: kometa — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Vietnamese: sao chổi — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Welsh: comed — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Yiddish: קאָמעט (komet) — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Yoruba: ìràwọ̀ onírù — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Yup'ik: agyuliq — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Zhuang: ndaundeiqsauqbaet — a celestial body, generally with a tail
  • Zulu: inkanyezi enomsila — a celestial body, generally with a tail
Real reading context

comet in complete knowledge articles