comet: [13] Comet means literally ‘the longhaired one’. Greek kómē meant ‘hair’, but it was also applied metaphorically to the tail of a comet, which was thought of as streaming out behind like a luxuriant head of hair being blown by the wind. Hence an astēr kométēs ‘longhaired star’ was the name given to a comet. Eventually the adjective kométēs came to stand for the whole phrase, and it passed via Latin comēta and Old French comete into English.
comet (n.)
c. 1200, from Old French comete (12c., Modern French comète), from Latin cometa, from Greek (aster) kometes, literally "long-haired (star)," from kome "hair of the head" (compare koman "let the hair grow long"), which is of unknown origin. So called from resemblance of a comet's tail to streaming hair.
双语例句
1. They observed the comet for 70 days before it faded from sight.
他们观察了这颗彗星70天，直至其慢慢从视线中消失。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Comet also sired the champion foal out of Spinway Harvest.
“彗星”还跟“斯平威·哈维斯特”生下了这匹出类拔萃的小马驹。
来自柯林斯例句
3. We were not altogether sure that the comet would miss the Earth.
我们不能完全肯定彗星不会与地球相撞。
来自柯林斯例句
4. The orbit of this comet intersects the orbit of the Earth.