Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Comma
Com′ma
,Noun.
[L.
comma
part of a sentence, comma, Gr. [GREEK] clause, fr. [GREEK] to cut off. Cf. Capon
.] 1.
A character or point [,] marking the smallest divisions of a sentence, written or printed.
2.
(Mus.)
A small interval (the difference between a major and minor half step), seldom used except by tuners.
Comma bacillus
(Physiol.)
, a variety of bacillus shaped like a comma, found in the intestines of patients suffering from cholera. It is considered by some as having a special relation to the disease; – called also
– cholera bacillus
. Comma butterfly
(Zool.)
, an American butterfly (
Grapta comma
), having a white comma-shaped marking on the under side of the wings.Webster 1828 Edition
Comma
COMMA
, n.1.
In writing and printing, this point [,] denoting the shortest pause in reading, and separating a sentence into divisions or members, according to the construction. Thus, There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. Virtue, wit, knowledge, are excellent accomplishments. Live soberly, righteously, and piously, in the present world.2.
In music, an enharmonic interval, being the eighth part of a tone, or the difference between a major and a minor semitone; a term used in theoretic music to show the exact proportions between concords.3.
Distinction.