I. ˈkōmə noun
( -s )
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek kōma deep sleep; perhaps akin to Middle Irish cuma sorrow, Greek kamnein to work, be weary, Sanskrit śamati he works
1. : a state of profound unconsciousness caused by disease (as diabetes or uremia), injury, or poison
2. : a state of mental or physical sluggishness : torpor
lay in a coma of repletion
they will rouse Western civilization from the coma of the Dark Ages — A.W.Griswold
II. noun
( plural co·mae -ˌmē, -ˌmī)
Etymology: Latin, hair, from Greek komē
1. botany : a tuft or bunch: as
a. : an assemblage of branches forming a leafy crown (as in many palms)
b. : a cluster of empty bracts terminating an inflorescence (as in the pineapple)
c. : a tuft of hairs on certain seeds (as of cotton or milkweed)
2. : the head of a comet usually containing a nucleus
3. : an optical aberration in which the image of a point source not on the axis of a lens or mirror is a comet-shaped blur of light being produced by the varying magnification of the lens or mirror with varying distance from the axis
4. Southwest : southern buckthorn