The comma ( , ) is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in various languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight but inclined from the vertical, or with the appearance of a small, filled-in number 9.
The comma is used in many contexts and languages, mainly for separating parts of a sentence such as clauses, and items in lists, particularly when there are three or more items listed. The word comma comes from the Greek komma (κόμμα), which means a cut-off piece; specifically, in grammar, a short clause.
A comma-shaped mark is used as a diacritic in several writing systems: above the letter in Greek; below the letter in Latvian, Romanian, and Livonian, and is considered distinct from the cedilla.
The basic comma is defined in Unicode as U+002C , comma (HTML ,
), and many variants by typography or language are also defined.
A comma is a type of punctuation mark "," (44 in ASCII). The word comes from the Greek komma (κόμμα), which means something cut off or a short clause
Comma may also refer to:
In Ancient Greek rhetoric, a comma (κόμμα komma, plural κόμματα kommata) is a short clause, something less than a colon.
In the system of Aristophanes of Byzantium, commata were separated by middle interpuncts.
In antiquity, a comma was defined as a combination of words that has no more than eight syllables.
Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like the oligochaetes, such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from the oligochaetes in significant ways. For example, leeches do not have bristles and the external segmentation of their bodies does not correspond with the internal segmentation of their organs. Their bodies are much more solid as the spaces in their coelom are dense with connective tissues. They also have two suckers, one at each end.
The majority of leeches live in freshwater environments, while some species can be found in terrestrial and marine environments, as well. The best-known leeches, such as the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, are hematophagous, feeding on vertebrate blood and invertebrate hemolymph. Most leech species, however, are predatory, feeding primarily by swallowing other invertebrates. Almost 700 species of leeches are currently recognized, of which some 100 are marine, 90 terrestrial and the remainder freshwater taxa.
In computing and specifically Internet, a leech is one who benefits, usually deliberately, from others' information or effort but does not offer anything in return, or makes only token offerings in an attempt to avoid being called a leech. In economics, this type of behavior is called "free riding" and is associated with the free rider problem.
Depending on context, leeching does not necessarily refer to illegal use of computer resources, but often instead to greedy use according to etiquette: to wit, using too much of what is freely given without contributing a reasonable amount back to the community that provides it.
The name derives from the leech, an animal that sucks blood and then tries to leave unnoticed. Other terms are used, such as "freeloader" and "sponge", but leech is the most common.
Leech is a common name for the annelids comprising the subclass Hirudinea.
Leech may also refer to: