Comma vs. Colon — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Comma and Colon
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Compare with Definitions
Comma
The comma , is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different 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.
Colon
A punctuation mark (
) used after a word introducing a quotation, explanation, example, or series and often after the salutation of a business letter.
Comma
(Grammar) A punctuation mark ( , ) used to indicate a separation of ideas or of elements within the structure of a sentence.
Colon
The sign (
) used between numbers or groups of numbers in expressions of time (2:30 AM) and ratios (1:2).
Comma
A pause or separation; a caesura.
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Colon
A section of a metrical period in quantitative verse, consisting of two to six feet and in Latin verse having one principal accent.
Comma
Any of several nymphalid butterflies of the genus Polygonia having wings with irregularly notched edges and a small comma-shaped marking on the underside of the hind wing.
Colon
An analogous unit or division of classical Greek or Latin prose.
Comma
(typography) The punctuation mark ⟨,⟩ used to indicate a set of parts of a sentence or between elements of a list.
Colon
The section of the large intestine extending from the cecum to the rectum.
Comma
A similar-looking subscript diacritical mark.
Colon
See Table at currency.
Comma
(entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Polygonia, having a comma-shaped white mark on the underwings, especially Polygonia c-album and Polygonia c-aureum of North Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Colon
The punctuation mark ":".
Comma
(music) A difference in the calculation of nearly identical intervals by different ways.
Colon
(rare) The triangular colon (especially in context of not being able to type the actual triangular colon).
Comma
(genetics) A delimiting marker between items in a genetic sequence.
Colon
(rhetoric) A rhetorical figure consisting of a clause which is grammatically, but not logically, complete.
Comma
(rhetoric) In Ancient Greek rhetoric, a short clause, something less than a colon, originally denoted by comma marks. In antiquity it was defined as a combination of words having no more than eight syllables in all. It was later applied to longer phrases, e.g. the Johannine comma.
Colon
(palaeography) A clause or group of clauses written as a line, or taken as a standard of measure in ancient manuscripts or texts.
Comma
(figurative) A brief interval.
Colon
(anatomy) Part of the large intestine; the final segment of the digestive system, after (distal to) the ileum and before (proximal to) the rectum. (Because the colon is the largest part of the large intestine (constituting most of it), it is often treated as synonymous therewith in broad or casual usage.)
Comma
A character or point [,] marking the smallest divisions of a sentence, written or printed.
Colon
(obsolete) A husbandman.
Comma
A small interval (the difference between a major and minor half step), seldom used except by tuners.
Colon
A European colonial settler, especially in a French colony.
Comma
A punctuation mark (,) used to indicate the separation of elements within the grammatical structure of a sentence
Colon
That part of the large intestines which extends from the cæcum to the rectum. [See Illust. of Digestion.]
Comma
Anglewing butterfly with a comma-shaped mark on the underside of each hind wing
Colon
A point or character, formed thus [:], used to separate parts of a sentence that are complete in themselves and nearly independent, often taking the place of a conjunction.
Colon
The part of the large intestine between the cecum and the rectum; it extracts moisture from food residues before they are excreted
Colon
The basic unit of money in El Salvador; equal to 100 centavos
Colon
The basic unit of money in Costa Rica; equal to 100 centimos
Colon
A port city at the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal
Colon
A punctuation mark (:) used after a word introducing a series or an example or an explanation (or after the salutation of a business letter)
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