comment

pronunciation

How to pronounce comment in British English: UK [ˈkɒment] word uk audio image

How to pronounce comment in American English: US [ˈkɑːment] word us audio image

Noun:

a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief
a written explanation or criticism or illustration that is added to a book or other textual material
a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people
Verb:

make or write a comment on
explain or interpret something
provide interlinear explanations for words or phrases

Word Origin

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

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.