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coma

noun

  1. nebulous envelope around the nucleus of a comet
  2. aberration inherent to certain optical designs or due to imperfection in the lens
  3. state of unconsciousness
L16577 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈkəʊmə/ / /ˈkoʊmə/

noun

Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin coma (“hair of the head”), from Ancient Greek κόμη (kómē, “hair”).

  1. A cloud of dust surrounding the nucleus of a comet.
  2. A defect characterized by diffuse, pear-shaped images that in an ideal image would appear as points.
  3. A tuft or bunch, such as the assemblage of branches forming the head of a tree, a cluster of bracts when empty and terminating the inflorescence of a plant, or a tuft of long hairs on certain seeds.