κομήτης Ancient Greek · revision 2665

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=5th century BC, Herodotus|origins=grc κομάω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ko.mɛ̌ː.tɛːs/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /koˈmi.tis/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /koˈmi.tis/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''κομήτης''' (komḗtēs) ''m''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[κομάω|tr=komáō|t=to have long hair]], from [[κόμη|tr=kómē|t=hair]], with the suffix [[m|grc|-της|tr=-tēs]].^(Wiktionary)^(LSJ 1940) The comet was named the “long-haired star” because its tail was imagined as a head of hair.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An oracle quoted by Herodotus calls the Persians long-haired.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Comic poets used it of vain, dissolute young men who wore their hair long, as in Aristophanes' ''Clouds''.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Plato uses it simply for having hair, as opposed to being bald.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Figuratively, Sophocles calls an arrow ''κομήτης'' for its feathers, and Euripides a meadow for its grass and a thyrsus for its ivy.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ With or without ''ἀστήρ'' “star”, Aristotle's ''Meteorology'' and Epicurus use it for the comet.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Dioscorides gives it as a name of a spurge.^(LSJ 1940) Medieval and Modern Greek [[m|el|κομήτης|tr=komítis]] is the comet, and figuratively someone who appears rarely and suddenly.^(Kriaras)^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 5th century BC – An oracle in Herodotus calls the Persians long-haired.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 5th century BC – Sophocles calls a feathered arrow ''κομήτης''.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of long-haired young men.^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for the comet.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it for a plant.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Long-haired, or ''(of men)'' vain, dissolute.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # Having hair, as opposed to bald.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Feathered, of an arrow; grassy, of a meadow; wreathed, of a thyrsus.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|comet]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A kind of [[m|en|spurge]].^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[κόμη|tr=kómē]]

+ * [[κομάω|tr=komáō]]

+ * [[en|comet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}