Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Definition for COM'MA
COM'MA, n. [Gr. κομμα, a segment, from κοπτω, to cut off.]
- 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.”
- 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.
- Distinction. – Addison.
Return to page 165 of the letter “C”.