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comma [comma 词源字典]: comma: [16] Greek kómma meant literally ‘piece cut off, segment’. It derived from the verb kóptein ‘cut’, relatives of which include Russian kopje ‘lance’, source of the coin-name kopeck, and probably English capon. Kómma came to be applied metaphorically, as a technical term in prosody, to a small piece of a sentence, a ‘short clause’, a sense which it retained when it reached English via Latin comma. It was not long before, like colon, it was applied to the punctuation mark signifying the end of such a clause.
=> capon, kopeck[comma etymology, comma origin, 英语词源]
command: command: [13] Ultimately, command and commend are the same word. Both come from Latin compound verbs formed from the intensive prefix com- and the verb mandāre ‘entrust, commit to someone’s charge’ (from which we get mandate). In the classical period this combination produced commendāre ‘commit to someone’s charge, commend, recommend’, which passed into English in the 14th century (recommend, a medieval formation, was acquired by English from medieval Latin in the 14th century).

Later on, the compounding process was repeated, giving late Latin commandāre. By this time, mandāre had come to mean ‘order’ as well as ‘entrust’ (a change reflected in English mandatory). Commandāre inherited both these senses, and they coexisted through Old French comander and Anglo- Norman comaunder into Middle English commande.

But ‘entrust’ was gradually taken over from the 14th century by commend, and by the end of the 15th century command meant simply ‘order’. Commandeer and commando are both of Afrikaans origin, and became established in English at the end of the 19th century largely as a result of the Boer War. Commodore [17] is probably a modification of Dutch komandeur, from French commandeur ‘commander’.
=> commend, commodore, demand, mandatory, recommend, remand
commensurate: commensurate: see measure
comment: comment: [15] In Latin, a commentum was originally ‘something invented or devised’. It was derived from the verb comminiscī ‘devise, contrive by thought’, a compound formed from the prefix com- ‘with’ and a base *men- (this also produced Latin mens and mentiō, source respectively of English mental and mention). It was used in the 7th century by the Spanish theologian Isidore in the sense ‘interpretation, annotation’, and it was with that meaning rather than the original ‘contrivance’ that the word passed eventually into English.
=> mental, mention, mind
commerce: commerce: [16] Commerce is etymologically related to market, merchandise, merchant, and mercury. It comes, perhaps via French commerce, from Latin commercium ‘trade’, a compound noun formed from the collective prefix com- ‘together’ and merx ‘merchandise’. The adjective commercial is 17th-century, its nominal use for ‘broadcast advertisement’ 20thcentury.
=> market, merchant, mercury
commit: commit: [14] Etymologically, commit simply means ‘put together’. It comes from Latin committere, a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and the verb mittere ‘put, send’ (whence English missile and mission). It originally meant literally ‘join, connect’, but then branched out along the lines of ‘put for safety, entrust’ (the force of com- here being more intensive than collective) and ‘perpetrate’ (exactly how this sense evolved is not clear).

The whole range of meanings followed the Latin verb into English, although ‘put together’ was never more than an archaism, and died out in the 17th century. Of derivatives based on the Latin verb’s past participial stem commiss-, commission entered English in the 14th century and commissionaire (via French) in the 18th century. Medieval Latin commissārius produced English commissary [14] and, via French, Russian commissar, borrowed into English in the 20th century.
=> commissar, committee, missile, mission
committee: committee: [15] Committee was formed from the verb commit by adding the suffix -ee. Following the pattern of all such formations, it originally meant ‘person to whom something is committed’; it was not until the 17th century that the sense ‘body of people delegated to perform a particular function’ developed.
commodious: commodious: [15] Latin commodus meant ‘convenient’. It was a compound adjective formed from com- ‘with’ and modus ‘measure’, and thus meaning literally ‘conforming with due measure’. From it was derived the medieval Latin adjective commodiōsus, which passed, probably via French commodieux, into English. This originally meant ‘advantageous, useful, convenient’, and it was not really until the 16th century that it developed the meaning ‘affording a conveniently large amount of space’.

The noun derivative commodity entered English in the 14th century, and from earliest times had the concrete meaning ‘article of commerce’, deriving from the more general sense ‘something useful’. Commodus was borrowed into French as commode ‘convenient’, which came to be used as a noun meaning both ‘tall headdress for women’ and ‘chest of drawers’. English adopted the word in the 17th century, and in the 19th century added the new sense ‘chair housing a chamber pot’ (a semantic development paralleling the euphemistic use of convenience for lavatory).
=> commode, commodity
commodore: commodore: see command
common: common: [13] Common comes ultimately from an Indo-European base *moi-, *mei-, signifying ‘change, exchange’, which also produced English immune, mutate, mutual, and remunerate. A derivative of this base, *moin-, *mein- seems to have joined up with the Indo- European collective *kom- to produce *komoin-, *komein- ‘shared by all’.

In Germanic this became *gamainiz, source of English mean ‘despicable’, while in Latin it gave commūnis, source, via Old French comun, of English common. Both the Latin and French forms have given English a number of derivatives: from the former we have community [14] (Latin commūnitātis), communion [14] (Latin commūniō), and communicate [16] (Latin commūnicāre), while the latter has yielded commune [13] (Old French comuner) and communism [19] (French communisme, coined around 1840).
=> communicate, communism, community, immune, mean, mutual, mutate, remunerate
commonwealth: commonwealth: see wealth
commotion: commotion: see motor
accommodate (v.): 1530s, from Latin accomodatus "suitable," past participle of accomodare "make fit, adapt, fit one thing to another," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + commodare "make fit," from commodus "fit" (see commode). Related: Accommodated; accommodating.
accommodating (adj.): "obliging," 1771, present participle adjective from accommodate.
accommodation (n.): "room and provisions, lodging," c. 1600, now usually plural (accommodations) and chiefly U.S.; from French accommodation, from Latin accommodationem (nominative accommodatio), noun of action from past participle stem of accommodare (see accommodate). Meaning "appliance, anything which affords aid" is from 1610s; that of "act of accommodating" is from 1640s.
accommodations (n.): "lodgings and entertainment," see accommodation.
comma (n.): 1520s as a Latin word, nativized by 1590s, from Latin comma "short phrase," from Greek komma "clause in a sentence," literally "piece which is cut off," from koptein "to cut off," from PIE root *kop- "to beat, strike" (see hatchet (n.)). Like colon (n.1) and period, originally a Greek rhetorical term for a part of a sentence, and like them it has been transferred to the punctuation mark that identifies it.
command (v.): c. 1300, from Old French comander "to order, enjoin, entrust" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *commandare, from Latin commendare "to recommend, entrust to" (see commend), altered by influence of Latin mandare "to commit, entrust" (see mandate (n.)). Replaced Old English bebeodan. Related: Commanded; commanding.
command (n.): c. 1400, "order, command," from Old French comand (14c.), from comander (see command (v.)). Meaning "control, authority" is from mid-15c.
commandant (n.): 1680s, from French commandant "the one commanding" originally "commanding," present participle of commander (Old French comander) "to order, enjoin;" see command (v.). Similar formation in Spanish and Italian comandante.
commandeer (v.): 1881, from Dutch (especially Afrikaans) kommandeeren "to command" (for military service), from French commander (see command (v.)). Related: Commandeered; commandeering.
commander (n.): early 14c., comandur, from Old French comandeor, from comander (see command (v.)). Commander in chief attested from 1650s.
commanding (adj.): late 15c. (in astronomy), present participle adjective from command (v.). Meaning "nobly dignified" is from 1590s. Meaning "dominant by virtue of size or position" is from 1630s. Related: Commandingly (mid-15c.).
commandment (n.): late 13c., "an order from an authority," from Old French comandement "order, command," from Latin *commandamentum, from *commandare (see command (v.)). Pronounced as four syllables until 17c.
Of þe x commandements ... þe first comondement is þis, O God we ssul honuri [c. 1280]
commandments (n.): short for The Ten Commandments, attested from late 13c. In Old English they were ða bebodu.
commando (n.): Afrikaans, "a troop under a commander," from Portuguese, literally "party commanded" (see command (v.)); in use c. 1809 during the Peninsula campaign, then from 1834, in a South African sense, of military expeditions of the Boers against the natives; modern sense is from 1940 (originally shock troops to repel the threatened German invasion of England), first attested in writings of Winston Churchill, who could have picked it up during the Boer War. Phrase going commando "not wearing underwear" attested by 1996, U.S. slang, perhaps on notion of being ready for instant action.
comme il faut: 1756, French, literally "as it should be;" from comme "as, like, how," from Old French com, from Vulgar Latin quomo, from Latin quomodo "how? in what way?," pronominal adverb of manner, related to quam "how much?," qui "who" (see who).
commedia dell'arte (n.): 1877, Italian, literally "comedy of art;" see comedy + art (n.).
commemorate (v.): 1590s, from Latin commemoratus, past participle of commemorare "bring to remembrance" (see commemoration). Related: Commemorated; commemorates; commemorating.
commemoration (n.): late 14c., "a calling to mind," also "service or church festival commemorating something," from Old French comemoration, from Latin commemorationem (nominative commemoratio) "reminding, mention," noun of action from past participle stem of commemorare "to call to mind," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + memorare "to remind," from memor "mindful of" (see memory).
commemorative (adj.): 1610s, from commemorate + -ive. As a noun meaning "means of commemoration" it is recorded from 1630s; as short for commemorative postage stamp from 1916.
commen: obsolete spelling of common.
commence (v.): c. 1300, from Old French comencier "to begin, start" (10c., Modern French commencer), from Vulgar Latin *cominitiare, originally "to initiate as priest, consecrate," from Latin com- "together" (see com-) + initiare "to initiate," from initium (see initial (adj.)). Spelling with double -m- began in French and was established in English by 1500. Related: Commenced; commencing.
commencement (n.): late 13c., "beginning," from Old French comencement "beginning, start" (Modern French commencement), from comencier (see commence). Meaning "school graduation ceremony" attested by 1850, American English. (Sense "entrance upon the privileges of a master or doctor in a university" is from late 14c.)
I know what you are thinking of -- the class members grouped in a semicircle on the stage, the three scared boys in new ready-made black suits, the seventeen pretty girls in fluffy white dresses (the gowns of the year), each senior holding a ribbon-tied manuscript bulging with thoughts on "Beyond the Alps Lies Italy," "Our Ship is Launched -- Whither Shall it Sail?" and similar topics. [Charles Moreau Harger, "The Real Commencement," "New Outlook," May 8, 1909]
commend (v.): mid-14c., comenden, from Latin commendare "to commit to the care or keeping (of someone), to entrust to; to commit to writing;" hence "to set off, render agreeable, praise," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + mandare "to commit to one's charge" (see mandate (n.)). In some senses, a shortening of recommend. Related: Commended; commending.
commendable (adj.): mid-14c., from Middle French commendable, from Latin commendabilis "praiseworthy," from commendare (see commend). Related: Commendably.
commendation (n.): "expression of approval," late 14c. (from c. 1200 as the name of one of the Offices of the Dead), from Old French commendacion "approval, praise," from Latin commendationem (nominative commendatio) "recommendation, commendation," noun of action from past participle stem of commendare (see commend).
commensal (n.): "one who eats at the same table" (as another), c. 1400, from Old French commensal (15c.), from Medieval Latin commensalis, from com- "together" (see com-) + mensa (genitive mensalis) "table" (see mesa). Biological sense attested from 1870.
commensalism (n.): 1870, from commensal + -ism.
commensurable (adj.): 1550s, from Late Latin commensurabilis "having a common measure," from com- "together with" (see com-) + Latin mensurabilis "that can be measured," from mensurare "to measure," from mensura "measure" (see measure (v.)).
commensurate (adj.): 1640s, from Late Latin commensuratus, from Latin com- "with" (see com-) + Late Latin mensuratus, past participle of mensurare "to measure," from mensura (see measure (v.)).
comment (n.): late 14c., from Old French coment "commentary" or directly from Late Latin commentum "comment, interpretation," in classical Latin "invention, fabrication, fiction," neuter past participle of comminisci "to contrive, devise," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + base of meminisse "to remember," related to mens (genitive mentis) "mind" (see mind (n.)). The Latin word meaning "something invented" was taken by Isidore and other Christian theologians for "interpretation, annotation." No comment as a stock refusal to answer a journalist's question is first recorded 1950, from Truman's White House press secretary, Charles Ross.
comment (v.): early 15c., from Middle French commenter (15c.), from Latin commentari, from commentum (see comment (n.)). Related: Commented; commenting.
commentary (n.): 1530s, from Middle French commentaire, or directly from Latin commentarius "notebook, annotation; diary, memoir," noun use of adjective, "relating to comments," from commentum (see comment (n.)). Perhaps the Latin noun is short for volumen commentarium. Originally in English as an adjective (early 15c.).
commentate (v.): 1794, "to comment," back-formation from commentator. Meaning "to deliver commentary" is attested from 1939 (implied in commentating). Related: Commentated; commentating.
commentator (n.): late 14c., "writer of commentaries," agent noun in Latin form from comment or commentary (Latin commentator meant "inventor, author"). Middle English also had a noun commentate, attested from early 15c. Meaning "writer of notes or expository comments" is from 1640s; sense of "one who gives commentary" (originally in sports) is from 1928.
"Well, Jem, what is a commentator?["]--"Why," was Jem's reply, "I suppose it must be the commonest of all taturs." ["Smart Sayings of Bright Children," collected by Howard Paul, 1886]
commerce (n.): 1530s, from Middle French commerce (14c.), from Latin commercium "trade, trafficking," from com- "together" (see com-) + merx (genitive mercis) "merchandise" (see market (n.)).
commercial (adj.): 1680s, "pertaining to trade," from commerce + -al (1). Meaning "paid for by advertisements" (in reference to radio, TV, etc.) is from 1932; meaning "done for the sake of financial profit" (of art, etc.) is from 1871. Related: Commercially.
commercial (n.): "an advertisement broadcast on radio or TV," 1935, from commercial (adj.).
commercialism (n.): "principles and practice of commerce," 1849, from commercial (adj.) + -ism.