section_path: Etymology
section_name: Etymology
paragraph_text: Etymology
  
  The word comet derives from the Old English cometa from the Latin comēta or comētēs. That, in turn, is a romanization of the Greek κομήτης 'wearing long hair', and the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the term (ἀστὴρ) κομήτης already meant 'long-haired star, comet' in Greek. Κομήτης was derived from κομᾶν (koman) 'to wear the hair long', which was itself derived from κόμη (komē) 'the hair of the head' and was used to mean 'the tail of a comet'.
  
  The astronomical symbol for comets (represented in Unicode) is U+2604 ☄ COMET, consisting of a small disc with three hairlike extensions.