Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COM'FIT-MAK-ER, n.

One who makes or prepares comfits.

COM'FORT, n.

1. Relief from pain; ease; rest or moderate pleasure after pain, cold, or distress, or uneasiness of body. The word signifies properly, new strength, or animation; and relief from pain is often the effect of strength. In a popular sense, the word signifies rather negatively, the absence of pain and the consequent quiet, than positive animation.
2. Relief from distress of mind; the ease and quiet which is experienced when pain, trouble, agitation, or affliction ceases. It implies also some degree of positive animation of the spirits; or some pleasurable sensations derived from hope, and agreeable prospects; consolation. Let me alone, that I may take comfort a little. – Job x. Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. – Matth. ix.
3. Support; consolation under calamity, distress, or danger. Let thy merciful kindness be for my comfort. – Ps. cxix.
4. That which gives strength or support in distress, difficulty, danger, or infirmity; as, pious children are the comfort of their aged parents.
5. In law, support; assistance; countenance; encouragement; as, an accessory affords aid or comfort to a felon.
6. That which gives security from want and furnishes moderate enjoyment; as, the comforts of life.

COM'FORT, v.t. [Low L. conforto; Fr. conforter; Arm. conforti, or conforta; It. confortare; Sp. and Port. confortar; Ir. comh-fhurtach, comfort, and furtachd, id.; furtaighim, to relieve or help; from the L. con and fortis, strong.]

1. To strengthen; to invigorate; to cheer or enliven. Light excelleth in comforting the spirits of men. – Bacon. Comfort ye your hearts. – Gen. xviii.
2. To strengthen the mind when depressed or enfeebled; to console; to give new vigor to the spirits; to cheer, or relieve from depression, or trouble. His friends came to mourn with him and to comfort him. – Job ii.
3. In law, to relieve, assist or encourage, as the accessory to a crime after the fact. – Blackstone.

COM'FORT-A-BLE, a.

1. Being in a state of ease, or moderate enjoyment; as a person after sickness or pain. This is the most common use of the word in the United States.
2. Admitting comfort; that may afford comfort. Who can promise him a comfortable appearance before his dreadful judge? – South.
3. Giving comfort; affording consolation. The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable. – 2 Sam. xiv.
4. Placing above want, and affording moderate enjoyment; as, a comfortable provision for old age.

COM'FORT-A-BLE-NESS, n.

The state of enjoying comfort.

COM'FORT-A-BLY, adv.

1. In a manner to give comfort or consolation. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Is. xl.
2. With comfort, or cheerfulness; without despair. Hope comfortably and cheerfully for God's performance. – Hammond.

COM'FORT-ED, pp.

Strengthened; consoled; encouraged.

COM'FORT-ER, n.

1. One who administers comfort or consolation; one who strengthens and supports the mind in distress or danger. I looked for comforters, but found none. – Ps. lxix. Miserable comforters are ye all. – Job xvi.
2. The title of the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to comfort and support the Christian. But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things. – John xiv.

COM'FORT-ING, ppr.

Giving strength or spirits; giving ease; cheering; encouraging; consoling.

COM'FORT-LESS, a.

Without comfort; without any thing to alleviate misfortune, or distress. I will not leave you comfortless. – John xiv.

COM'FORT-LESS-LY, adv.

In a comfortless manner.

COM'FORT-LESS-NESS, n.

State of being comfortless.

COM'FORT-RESS, n.

A female that affords comfort.

COM'FREY, or COM'FRY, n. [Qu. L. confirmo, equivalent to consolido.]

The popular name of a genus of plants, the Symphytum.

COM'IC, a. [L. comicus; Gr. κωμικος. See Comedy.]

1. Relating to comedy, as distinct from tragedy. – Waller.
2. Raising mirth; fitted to excite merriment. – Shak.

COM'IC-AL, a.

1. Relating to comedy; comic. – Gay.
2. Exciting mirth; diverting; sportive; droll. – Addison. We say a buffoon is a comical fellow, or his story or his manners are comical.

COM'IC-AL-LY, adv.

1. In a manner befitting comedy.
2. In a comical manner; in a manner to raise mirth.

COM'IC-AL-NESS, n.

The quality of being comical; the power or quality of raising mirth. – Johnson.

COM'ING, n.

1. The act of coming; approach.
2. The state of being come; arrival. The Lord hath blessed thee since my coming. Gen. xxx.

COM'ING, ppr. [See Come.]

1. Drawing nearer or nigh; approaching; moving toward; advancing.
2. adj. Future; yet to come; as, in coming ages.
3. Forward; ready to come. How coming to the poet every muse. – Pope. [The latter sense is now unusual.]

COM'ING-IN, n.

1. Entrance. I know thy going-out, and thy coming-in. – 2 Kings xix.
2. Beginning; commencement; as, the coming-in of the year. – 2 Kings xiii.
3. Income; revenue. [Not now used.] – Shak.
4. Compliance; submission. [Not in use.] – Massinger.

CO-MI'TIA, n. [plur. L.]

In ancient Rome, assemblies of the people.

CO-MI'TIAL, a. [L. comitia, an assembly of the Romans; probably formed from cum and eo, Ir. coimh, W. cym, or cyv.]

1. Relating to the comitia or popular assemblies of the Romans, for electing officers and passing laws. – Middleton.
2. Relating to an order of presbyterian assemblies. – Bp. Bancroft.

COM'I-TY, n. [L. comitas, from comes, mild, affable; Ir. caomh.]

Mildness and suavity of manners; courtesy; civility; good breeding. Well bred people are characterized by comity of manners.

COM'MA, n. [Gr. κομμα, a segment, from κοπτω, to cut off.]

1. In writing, and printing, this point [,] denoting the shortest pause in reading, and separating a sentence into divisions or members, according to the construction. Thus, “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” “Virtue, wit, knowledge, are excellent accomplishments.” “Live soberly, righteously, and piously, in the present world.”
2. In music, an enharmonic interval, being the eighth part of a tone, or the difference between a major and a minor semitone; a term used in theoretic music to show the exact proportions between concords. – Encyc. Harris.
3. Distinction. – Addison.