Science, ideas & the artsAnimals, plants & weather

comet

A comet is a 'long-haired' star: the Greeks saw its glowing tail as streaming hair. Latin carried the name across Europe, and English took it twice, once in Old English and again through French.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Ancient Greek to Modern Greek

From Latin to Italian

From Latin to Old French, French

From Latin to Spanish, Mexican Spanish

From Latin to Portuguese

From Latin to Middle High German, German

From Latin to Polish, Russian

350 BCEAncient Greek

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

The road to English

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