— cometary /kom"i ter'ee/ , cometic /keuh met"ik/ , cometical , adj. — cometlike , adj.
/kom"it/ , n. Astron.
a celestial body moving about the sun, usually in a highly eccentric orbit, consisting of a central mass surrounded by an envelope of dust and gas that may form a tail that streams away from the sun.
[ 1150-1200; ME comete cometes, cometa kométes wearing long hair, equiv. to kome-, var. s. of komân to let one's hair grow (deriv. of kóme hair) + -tes agent suffix ]