Coma

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Coma \Co"ma\, n. [L., hair, fr. Gr. ko`mh.]
     1. (Astron.) The envelope of a comet; a nebulous covering,
        which surrounds the nucleus or body of a comet.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Bot.) A tuft or bunch, -- as the assemblage of branches


        forming the head of a tree; or a cluster of bracts when
        empty and terminating the inflorescence of a plant; or a
        tuft of long hairs on certain seeds.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Coma Berenices}[L.] (Astron.), a small constellation north
        of Virgo; -- called also {Berenice's Hair}.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Coma \Co"ma\ (k[=o]"m[.a]), n. [NL., fr. Gr. kw^ma lethargy, fr.
     koima^n to put to sleep. See {Cemetery}.]
     A state of profound insensibility from which it is difficult
     or impossible to rouse a person. See {Carus}.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Envelope \En"vel*ope\ (?; 277), Envelop \En*vel"op\ (?; 277), n.
     [F. enveloppe.]
     1. That which envelops, wraps up, encases, or surrounds; a
        wrapper; an inclosing cover; esp., the cover or wrapper of
        a document, as of a letter.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Astron.) The nebulous covering of the head or nucleus of
        a comet; -- called also {coma}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Fort.) A work of earth, in the form of a single parapet
        or of a small rampart. It is sometimes raised in the ditch
        and sometimes beyond it. --Wilhelm.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Geom.) A curve or surface which is tangent to each member
        of a system of curves or surfaces, the form and position
        of the members of the system being allowed to vary
        according to some continuous law. Thus, any curve is the
        envelope of its tangents.
  
     4. A set of limits for the performance capabilities of some
        type of machine, originally used to refer to aircraft; --
        it is often described graphically as a two-dimensional
        graph of a function showing the maximum of one performance
        variable as a function of another. Now it is also used
        metaphorically to refer to capabilities of any system in
        general, including human organizations, esp. in the phrase
        push the envelope. It is used to refer to the maximum
        performance available at the current state of the
        technology, and therefore refers to a class of machines in
        general, not a specific machine.
        [PJC]
  
     {push the envelope} to increase the capability of some type
        of machine or system; -- usually by technological
        development.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  coma
       n 1: a state of deep and often prolonged unconsciousness; usually
            the result of disease or injury [syn: {comatoseness}]
       2: a usually terminal tuft of hairs especially on a seed
       3: (astronomy) the luminous cloud of particles surrounding the
          frozen nucleus of a comet; forms as the comet approaches
          the sun and is warmed
       [also: {comae} (pl)]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  46 Moby Thesaurus words for "coma":
     KO, blackout, catalepsy, catatonia, catatony, dullness,
     encephalitis lethargica, faint, grayout, hebetude, high, kayo,
     knockout, languor, lassitude, lethargy, lipothymia, lipothymy,
     narcohypnosis, narcolepsy, narcoma, narcosis, narcotic stupor,
     narcotization, nirvana, nirvana principle, nod, nothingness,
     oblivion, obliviousness, sedation, semiconsciousness,
     senselessness, shock, sleep, sleeping sickness, slumber, sopor,
     stupor, swoon, syncope, thanatosis, torpidity, torpor, trance,
     unconsciousness
  
  

From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  COMA
       Cache Only Memory Architecture (SMP)