COMET

[com.et] n [ME comete, fr. OE cometa, fr. L, fr. Gk kometes, lit., long-haired, fr. koman to wear long hair, fr. kome hair] (bef. 12c): a celestial body that consists of a fuzzy head usu. surrounding a bright nucleus, that has a usu. highly eccentric orbit, and that often when in the part of its orbit near the sun develops a long tail which points away from the sun -- com.e.tary adj -- co.met.ic adj