English
comma
Comma comes from Latin comma ‘a comma’, from Ancient Greek κόμμα ‘stamp or impression of a coin’, and ultimately from Proto-Hellenic *kopt͏̌ō.
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kopt͏̌ōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκόπτωkóptō‘to cut’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκόμμαkómma‘stamp or impression of a coin’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomma‘a comma’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828comma
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kopt͏̌ōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκόπτωkóptō‘to cut’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκόμμαkómma‘stamp or impression of a coin’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomma‘a comma’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828comma
Earliest quotation: 1828, Richard Thomson, Illustrations of the History of Great Britain: “No points were used by the ancient printers, excepting…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep-
through Ancient Greek κόπτω ‘to cut’
Today it means
noun The punctuation mark ⟨,⟩ used to indicate a set of parts of a sentence or between elements of a list.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Hellenic *kopt͏̌ō / comma