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Origin and history of coma

coma(n.1)

"state of prolonged unconsciousness," 1640s, from Latinized form of Greek kōma (genitive kōmatos) "deep sleep," which is of uncertain origin. A term for "coma" in Middle English was false sleep (late 14c.). Related: Comal.

coma(n.2)

"nebulous, hair-like envelope surrounding the head of a comet," 1765, from Latin coma, from Greek komē "hair of the head," which is of unknown origin. Earlier in English as a botanical term for a tuft of hairs (1660s). For the constellation Coma Berenices, see Berenice. Related: Comal.

also from 1765

Entries linking to coma

Berenice

fem. proper name, from Latin Berenice, from Macedonian Greek Berenikē (classical Greek Pherenikē), literally "bringer of victory," from pherein "to bring" (from PIE root *bher- (1) "to carry") + nikē "victory" (see Nike).

The constellation Berenice's Hair (Coma Berenices) is from the story of the pilfered amber locks of the wife of Ptolemy Euergetes, king of Egypt, c. 248 B.C.E., which the queen cut off as an offering to Venus. The constellation features a dim but visible star cluster; Ptolemy (the astronomer) regarded it as the tuft of fur at the end of Leo's tail, but German cartographer Caspar Vopel put it on his 1536 globe as Berenice's Hair, and it endured. Berenice's Hair is also sometimes incorrectly given as an old name of the star Canopus, based on Holland's mistranslation of Pliny in 1601.

comatose(adj.)

1755, "affected with coma, morbidly drowsy or lethargic," from Latinized form of Greek komat-, combining form of koma (genitive komatos; see coma (n.1)) + -ose (1). The English word is perhaps immediately from French comateux. Transferred sense of "lethargic" is from 1828.

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