- the punctuation mark(,) indicating a slight pause in the spoken sentence and used where there is a listing of items or to separate a nonrestrictive clause or phrase from a main clause
- a minute interval
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
com•ma /ˈkɑmə/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. -mas.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- the sign (,), a mark of punctuation used to indicate a division in a sentence, as in setting off a word, phrase, or clause (First, we take the milk, and then we beat the butter.), to separate items in a list (eggs, milk, and butter), to mark off thousands in numerals (5,000), and, in some parts of Europe, as a decimal point (My German students wrote "A kilogram weighs 2,2 pounds.'')
com•ma
(kom′ə),USA pronunciation n.
- the sign (,), a mark of punctuation used for indicating a division in a sentence, as in setting off a word, phrase, or clause, esp. when such a division is accompanied by a slight pause or is to be noted in order to give order to the sequential elements of the sentence. It is also used to separate items in a list, to mark off thousands in numerals, to separate types or levels of information in bibliographic and other data, and, in Europe, as a decimal point.
- [Class. Pros.]
- a fragment or smaller section of a colon.
- the part of dactylic hexameter beginning or ending with the caesura.
- the caesura itself.
- Musicthe minute, virtually unheard difference in pitch between two enharmonic tones, as G♯ and A♭.
- any of several nymphalid butterflies, as Polygonia comma, having a comma-shaped silver mark on the underside of each hind wing.
- Greek kómma piece cut off (referring to the phrase so marked), equivalent. to kop- (base of kóptein to strike, chop) + -ma noun, nominal suffix denoting result of action (with assimilation of p)
- Late Latin: mark of punctuation, Latin: division of a phrase
- 1520–30
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
comma /ˈkɒmə/ n
'comma' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
aleph
- cholera
- comma bacillus
- decimal point
- inverted comma
- open punctuation
- punctuation mark
- quotation mark
- semicolon
- virgule
- and
- angulation
- but
- COM
- comma fault
- command
- comma position
- comma splice
- delimiter
- hatchet
- lac
- run-on sentence
- turned comma
- vibrio
- separatrix
- serial comma
- series comma