comatose

Etymology

According to the revised OED it is borrowed from New Latin comatosus, recorded in a Latin translation of Galen of 1515,^[2] formed from the stem of Ancient Greek κῶμα (kôma, “deep sleep”) and the suffix Latin -ōsus.^[2][3] Other dictionaries form it in English from the Greek stem with the suffix -ose.^{[4][5][6][3][7]} Etymonline suggests that it may have come immediately from French comateux,^[8] which Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives as its source, formed from the Greek stem with the suffix -eux.^[9] The Greek noun is also the source of coma, and is itself of uncertain origin.^[8][3] English earlier had comatous, used from the mid 17th to the late 18th century.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the nature of a coma: before 1670, in S. Collins's Systeme of Anatomy, published in 1685; "affected with coma" follows in 1680.^[2] The OED revised these dates: its 1989 edition, like Etymonline and Merriam-Webster Unabridged, began with 1755,^[10][8][9] while the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English place the word in the late 17th century.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In 1657 an English translation of Bauderon's Expert Phisician still used the Latin feminine comatosa for a fever affecting the head.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined the adjective as "lethargick; sleepy to a disease", quoting Grew.^[11] The transferred sense, drowsy, lethargic or deeply asleep, is dated 1754 by the revised OED,^[2] 1828 by Etymonline and the 1989 edition,^[8][10] and the early 19th century by the Shorter Oxford.^[5] A figurative use for a person unable or unwilling to think or feel normally, at first also of a place, is recorded from before 1799.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also applies it to things that are dull and inactive, such as a market.^[9] In American college slang of the 1980s comatose or comatosed meant very drunk.^[12]

Timeline

• before 1670 – of the nature of a coma.^[2]
• 1680 – affected with coma, deeply unconscious.^[2]
• 1754 – lethargic, drowsy, in a deep sleep.^[2] Etymonline and the 1989 edition of the OED date this sense to 1828.^[8][10]
• before 1799 – figurative, emotionally deadened or unresponsive.^[2]
• 1986 – US college slang, very drunk.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. In a coma; deeply unconscious and not responding to stimuli.^[9][2][5]
2. Relating to or resembling a coma: a comatose state.^[9][2]
3. Lethargic, torpid or inactive; also, fast asleep: After the long lunch the whole office was comatose.^[9][2][5]
4. (US slang) Very drunk.^[12]

Word family

• comatosely
• comatoseness

Related words

• coma
• comatous

Usage notes

The first edition of the OED (1891) stressed the third syllable, and its derivatives comatosely and comatoseness likewise.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged records the less common variant comatous.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com