comely 
1122 
COmelyt (kum'li), mlr. [< ME. comely, comly, 
comliche, cttmliche, < AS. cymlice, adv., < cym- 
lic, adj. : see comely, u.~\ Suitably or fittingly ; 
gracefully ; handsomely ; in a pleasing manner. 
Upon a day Oawein cum fro huntynge, and clothed 
MMW in 
His markets the best ordered for prices of comestible ware, 
. . . any flesh or fish at a rated price, every mm-ninc. 
Sir H. Wottun, Reliquiie, p. 240. 
II. H. An eatable; an edible; an article of 
food. 
comfort 
pertaining to a comet or comets ; of the nature 
of a comet. 
tin in ji robe that \\as \vjirme as a robe for the wynter. 
Merlin (E. E. T. IS.), i'i. 181. 
To ride cum-'///. Axcttam, The Scholemaster. 
COmenH. A Middle English form of the past J n 5.* ^ ko / m ,' j 
participle (and infinitive) of come. 
comen 2 t, and r. 
roniiiioii. 
Wine, wax lights, comestible*, rouge, Ac., would go to 
the deuce if people did not act upon their silly principles. 
There seems to be ... little relation between the di- 
rection of the major axes of eometary orbits and the di- 
rection of the solar motion in space. 
Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVI. 04. 
II. . ; pi. cometaries (-riz). A cometarium. 
omet-finder (kom'et-fin"der), . In astro**., 
a telescope of low power, but with a wide field, 
utivc/ ui. </</>(. , - ". used to search for comets. Also called comet- 
A Middle English form of ko "' ee l t /*; Dan - , bw - *"'' < L. cometa, also gee lier. 
cometes, < Gr. Ko/ut/Ti/f (with or without UOT///J, come tj ( 
[< ME. comete, < AS. ctnne- 
te = F. comete = Pr. Sp. Pg. It. cometa = D. 
come-off (kuui'of), n. Means of escape; eva- 
sion; excuse: as. we can do without this come- 
off. [Bare.] 
It would makt' OIK- grin to bee the author's come-oft from 
tin's iind the rest of the charters in this time. 
Roger Xorth, Examen, p. 644. 
COme-OUter (kuui'ou'ter), H. Literally, one who 
comes out ; hence, one who abandons or em- 
phatically dissents from an established creed, 
opinion, custom, sect, etc. ; a radical reformer, 
especially as to religious doctrine or practice. 
[Slang, U. S.] 
I am a Christian man of the sect called Come-outers. 
Iliiliuurtan (Sam. Slick), Human Xature. 
L K is orthodox, and you are a kind of come- 
outer, but you will like each other for all that. 
S. Bowles, in Merriam, I. 209. 
comephorid (ko-mef'o-rid), . A fish of the 
family CotHtpkoritUt, 
Comephoridae (kom-e-for'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Comephonu + -Ida;."] A family of acanthop- 
terygian fishes, typified by the genus Comepho- 
I'lis. The body is elongate and naked, the head large with 
a depressed produced snout, the mouth deeply cleft and 
with teeth on the jaws and palate ; there are 2 dorsals, 
the second long like the anal, and no ventrals. Only one 
-species is known, Couteplioru-s baikalensia. 
Comephorus (ko-mef 'o-rus), n. [NL. (Lace- 
pede, 1800), < Gr. ndfa/, hair (see coma 2 ), + 
-$6po, -bearing, < 0fpEv = E. frear 1 .] The typ- 
ical genus of fishes of the family Comephoridat, 
the only known species of which is confined to 
Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is about a foot in 
length, and very oily. 
comer (kum'6r), n. One who comes ; one who 
approaches, or has lately arrived : often applied 
to things. 
Now leave those Joys unsuitlng to thy age, 
To a fresh coiner, and resign the stage. Dryden. 
All comers, every one that comes ; everybody, without 
exclusion or barring : as, a competition open to all comers. 
The renowned champion . . . has published a defiance 
to the world, and offers to prove it against all coinen. 
Stittingfleet. 
comerancet, . An obsolete form of cumbrance. 
comeroust, . An obsolete form of cumbrous. 
comes (ko'mez), . ; pi. comites (kom'i-tez). [L. 
(ML. NL.), a companion, >ult. E. count 2 , q. v.] 
1. In ancient Rome and the Roman empire, a 
companion of or attendant upon a great per- 
son ; hence, the title of an adjutant to a pro- 
consul or the like, afterward specifically of the 
immediate personal counselors of the emperor, 
and finally of many high officers, the most im- 
portant of whom were the prototypes of the me- 
dieval counts. See count 2 . 2. [ML.] In early 
and medieval usage, a book containing the epis- 
tles to be used at mass ; an epistolary ; more 
specifically, the ancient missal lectionary of the 
Roman Church, containing the epistles and gos- 
pels, and said to have been drawn up by St. Je- 
rome. Hence 3. [NL.] In music, the repeti- 
tion of the subject or "dux" of a fugue by the 
second voice at the interval of a fourth or fifth. 
Also called consequent, or answer. 4. [NL.] In 
anat., a vessel accompanying another vessel or 
other structurecomes nervl Iscbiadici, the ar- 
tery accompanying the great sciatic nerve. Comes nervi 
phrenici, a branch of the mammary artery accompanying 
the phrenic nerve. Venae comites (companion veins), 
the usually paired veins accompanying many of the 
smaller arteries of the body, as the ulnar, radial, or bra- 
chial. 
comessationt (kom-e-sa'shon), . [< L. comes- 
satio(n-), prop. comissatio(n-), < conmsari, pp. 
comlssatus (often written, on account of an 
erroneous etym., comess-, comment-, commens-, 
commiss-, etc.), revel, make merry, < Gr. icufid- 
(etv, go in festal procession, revel, make merry, 
/ ,-... of) f es tal procession, revel, etc. : see cow- 
star), a comet, lit. long-haired (so called from 
the appearance of its tail), < noftdv, wear long 
hair, < KU//, hair: see coma 2 .'] 1. One of a class 
of celestial bodies which move about the sun 
in greatly elongated orbits, usually elliptical or 
parabolic. The typical comet, as it approaches the sun, 
Comet of Donati, October 3d, tBsa 
( From " Annals of Harvard Observatory." ) 
cometic (ko-met'ik), . [< comet + -ic.] Of or 
pertaining to a comet, or to comets in gener- 
al; cometary: as, cometic forms ; cometic move- 
ments. 
Others [nebuht'J of the cumetic shape, with ji seeming 
nucleus in the centre, or like cloudy stars surroiindrd 
uitb a nebulous atmosphere. 
A. 31. Clerke, Astron. in 19th Cent., p. 28. 
cometographer (kom-et-og'ra-fer), 11. [< eom- 
etngmplti/ + -fi'l.] One who describes comets. 
cometography (kom-et-og'ra-fi), n. [= F. eo- 
metof/rujiJiie = Sp. con/ctiiffi'tifiit = Pg. rinetii- 
yraiiltia, < Gr. Kofit/ri/f, a comet, + -; pa<j>ia, < 
;/ja0ta', write.] A description of or treatise on 
comets. 
cometology (kom-et-ol'o-ji), H. [= F. come- 
tologie, < Gr. mi/ir/ryc. a comet. + -/.o; ia, < 'Acyeiv, 
speak: see -oloij//.] The scientific investiga- 
tion of comets. 
comet-seeker (koin'ct-sf- ker). //. Same as 
riiiiict-finder. 
comfit (kum'fit), n. [Earlv mod. E. also dim- 
fit ; < ME. conjit = D. ko'njijt, < OF. eoiifit, F. 
confit = Sp. confite (after F.) = Pg. confeito 
= It. confetto, a confect, < L. eoiifcrtns, pp. of 
coiificcre, put together, prepare, > OF. ennfirc, 
F. confire, preserve, pickle: see confect, n. (a 
doublet of comfit), and confcct, r.] Any kind 
of fruit or root 'preserved with sugar and dried; 
a ball of sugar with a seed in the center; a 
bonbon. 
extended away from the sun into a stream of light (the 
tail) reaching a length of from 2 to 90 . Comets which 
follow a parabolic orbit appear but once, their orbit being 
infinite, and are called parabolic comets ; those moving in 
ellipses return periodically, and are called periodic comet*. 
The fact of the periodicity of some comets was first estab- COmfltt (kum'fit), 
Also brandrels or pepyns with curawey in confutes. 
Babees Honk (E. E. T. S.), p. 16B. 
A little child came in to ask for an ounce of almond 
comfits (and four of the lame kind which Miss Matty sold 
weighed that much). Mrs. Vaskell, C'ranford, xv. 
i: t. [< comfit, n. Cf. con- 
feet, r.] To make a comfit 
with sugar. 
of; preserve dry 
lished by Halley with reference to the comet of 1682. The 
paths in which they move are not, like those of the plan- 
ets, all nearly in the same plane as the orbit of the earth, 
but are inclined to that orbit at all angles : and their mo- 
tion along their paths, though generally direct, that is, in 
the same direction as that of the earth and the other plan- 
clelis 8 ; TnclViTu thelS with eve^onTwhi'le^t isstili COmfltUret (kum'fi-tur), n. [< comfit + -we. Cf. 
very remote, when it appears as a mere nebulous patch. 
In this state it is called a telescopic comet. As it approaches 
the sun, the nucleus is gradually formed as a central but 
not sharply defined point of light ; later, the tail, consist- 
Ing of vaporous matter driven back by some repellent in- 
fluence of the sun, often with enormous velocity, is formed : comfort (kum'fert) r t 
and lastly, if the comet is a bright jne, a series of bright 
envelops rise successively from the nucleus, each extend- 
ing back into the tail, and gradually disappearing. The ?**"* wuj vi wi<,, ww/w *<-, I^MH/T/J tc/t, N .n^ . 
matter of which comets are composed is so transparent cunforter, OF. (and F.) conforter = Pr. Sp. Pg. 
The fruit which does so quickly waste . . . 
Thou comfitrst in sweetn to make it last. 
Cvwley, The Muse. 
------ . . w . , , L 2* 
confecture.'] Same as comfit. 
From country grass to coiitjitures of court, 
Or city's quelque-choses, let not report 
My mind transport. Donne, Love's Vsury. 
[Early mod. E. also 
cumfort; < ME. comforten, cumforten, comfortJimi, 
earlier conforten, count forten, counforten, < AF. 
that the faintest stars are seen through them without the 
slightest diminution of their luster. Of their physical con- 
stitution little is definitely known. The most remarkable 
discovery of recent times regarding them is the Identity 
of the course of some of them with the orbit of certain 
showers of shooting stare. This was first demonstrated 
by the Italian astronomer Schiaparelli, who proved the 
agreement between the orbit of the great comet of 1862 
and that of the star-shower seen annually about August 
Ist-lOth. Very remarkable comets appeared in 1456, 1680 
1811, 1841, 1858(Donati's), 1861, and 1874. They have always 
been objects of superstitious fear. See cut under envelop. 
Canst thou tear-less gaze 
(Euen night by night) on that prodigious Blaze, 
That hairy Comet that long streaming Star, 
Which threatens Earth with Famine, Hague, and War? 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, 1. 2. 
2. In her., same as blazing-star. 3. One of a 
group of humming-birds with long forked tails: 
as, the Sappho comet, Cometes sanpho; the 
Phaon comet, Cometes phaon. 4t. A game of 
cards, somewhat like speculation, invented and 
popular in the reign of Louis XV. of France. 
What say you to a poule at comet at my house? 
Sontheriie. 
Comet wine, wine made in any of the years in which 
notable comets have been seen, and supposed in conse- 
quence to have a superior flavor. 
The old gentleman yet nurses some few bottles of the 
famous comet year (i. e. 1811), emphatically called comet 
mint. London Times. 
*dy.l Feasting or reveling. cometarium (kom-e-ta'ri-um), ,.; pi. cometa- 
Dnniken tcomvaaton,. Bp. Hall, Free Prisoner, i 3. 
ria ( .g,). [NL., neut. of cometarias t see come- 
comestible (ko-mes'ti-bl), a. and . [< F. co- tary.] An astronomical instrument intended 
mestibte = Sp. comestible = Pg. comestivel = It. to represent the movement of a comet in that 
commesttbile, < LL. comestibilis, eatable, < L. part of its orbit which is near the sun. 
comesttui, usually comesws, pp. of cotnedere, eat eometary (kom'e-ta-ri), a. and n. [= F. come- 
up, consume, < com- (intensive) + edere = E. taire = Sp. Pg. It. cometario, < NL. cometarius, 
< L. cometa, a comet: see comet.'] I. a. Of or 
up, consume, com- (intensi 
eat,] I. a. Eatable; edible. 
confortor = It. confortare, < ML. confortare, 
strengthen, fortify, < L. com-, together, + for- 
tis, strong: see force, fort."] If. To give or 
add strength to ; strengthen ; fortify ; invigo- 
rate; corroborate. 
Thenne hadde Pacience. as pilgrimes hauen in here poke 
vitailes, 
Sobrete and s) mple-speche and sothfast-byleyue, 
To comforty hym. Pier* Plowman ((.'), xvi. 188. 
The evidence of God's own testimony, added unto the 
natural assent of reason, . . . doth not a little comfort 
and confirm the same. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. 
2. To soothe when in grief or trouble ; bring sol- 
ace or consolation to; console; cheer; solace. 
They bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the 
evil that the Lord had brought upon him. Job xlii. 11. 
Comfort your sorrows ; for they do not flow 
From evil done. Tennyson, Guinevere. 
It would be thy part 
To comfort me amidst my sorrowing. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 361. 
3. To relieve, assist, harbor, or encourage : in 
late, used especially of the conduct of an acces- 
sory to a crime after the fact. =syn. 2. To revive, 
refresh, inspirit, gladden, animate. 
comfort (kum'fert), n. [Early mod. E. also cum- 
fort; < ME. comfort, cumfort, comfortJi, comford. 
cumford, coumfort, earlier confort, kttnfort, < AF. 
cunfort, OF. (and F.) confort =Pr. confort, cofort 
= OSp. conforto, Sp. confuerto = Pg. It. con- 
forto, comfort; from the verb.] 1. Strength; 
support; assistance; countenance; encourage- 
ment : now only a legal use : as, an accessory 
affords aid or comfort to a felon. 
And whan he [the king] wiste that Merlyn was come, he 
was gladde, and thought in his herte that now he sholde 
haue courtfort. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 92. 
