comment
Pluralcomments
Verbcomments, commenting, commented
Pluralcomments
Formscomments, commenting, commented
- 1A spoken or written remark giving an opinion, observation or reaction; also such remarks in general (no comment; open for public comment).
Her comment during the meeting sparked a long debate.
The teacher wrote a brief comment in the margin of the essay.
UsageA comment on or about something; you make or leave a comment. No comment refuses to answer.
Similarremark, observation, note, statement
- 2To make remarks or give an opinion about something, or to say something as a remark; in older use, to explain or discuss a text directly.
Officials declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
Critics commented extensively on the film's slow pacing.
UsageComment on or about something (not
incorrect: comment the plan), or comment that + a clause.Similarremark
Note
The commenter need not be a person. A film can comment on race relations, meaning its story makes a point. Dropping the preposition and taking the text directly is no longer current, except in software, where programmers comment their code.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Comment formerly took a direct object naming what was being discussed. en.wiktionary.org
- 3A remark embedded in source code that the compiler or interpreter ignores, written to help people understand the code.
A well-placed comment can save the next developer hours of confusion.
He removed an outdated comment that no longer matched the code.
Note
What makes a programmer's comment is not what it says but how it is marked off from the code around it. The compiler or interpreter usually passes over it, so it speaks mainly to people reading the code, though tools such as documentation generators may read it too. That is also why disabling code can mean turning it into one, commenting it out: ordinary code converted into a valid comment stops counting as executable code.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Comment syntax distinguishes comments from executable source code. help.eclipse.org
- Compilers and interpreters generally ignore comments. docs.python.org
- Comments help people understand source code. oracle.com
- Documentation generators can process comments. oracle.com
- Converting executable code into a valid comment prevents that code from executing. en.wikipedia.org
Less common meanings
- 4To disable a section of source code by converting it into a comment so it no longer runs.
Developers often comment out debugging statements before a release.
He commented out the entire block to isolate the bug.
UsageUsually comment out: comment out the block, or comment it out with a pronoun before out.
Similardisable
Oppositeuncomment
Note
The lines are turned into comments, so the machine ignores them, yet they stay in the file and can be restored. It is a programmer's temporary off-switch for testing and debugging.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Converting code into comments prevents it from executing. learn.microsoft.com
- Commented-out code remains in the file and can be restored by uncommenting it. learn.microsoft.com
- Commenting out code can temporarily disable it for testing. mathworks.com
- Temporarily commenting out code is a debugging technique. pages.cs.wisc.edu
- 5To add explanatory remarks into source code.
Good developers comment their code thoroughly.
He commented the entire module before the review.
Note
Software has revived the bare transitive pattern older English once used for texts. You comment your code, comment a module, or comment a complicated algorithm, with no on in between. The object is the code that receives the explanations, not a topic under discussion. Don't confuse it with commenting out, which adds nothing and switches lines off instead.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- Older English used comment transitively for texts. en.wiktionary.org
- 6A fact or circumstance that reveals the true character of something by implication, usually in a way that reflects badly on it.
That the town's newest building is a parking garage is a telling comment on its priorities.
Nurses needing second jobs to pay the rent is a damning comment on the state of health care.
UsageUsually a + adjective + comment on: a telling comment on, a sad comment on.
Similarreflection, commentary, indictment
Note
Nobody speaks in this sense: a situation passes judgment by itself, as though it were making a spoken remark. The subject is often a whole situation or clause (nurses needing second jobs), which gives the phrase its pointed, editorial ring.
- 7The part of a sentence that supplies new information about the current theme.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of comment apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origins
Classical Latin commentum meant "invention, fabrication," but in Late Latin it came to mean "comment, interpretation." It passed into Old French as coment ("commentary") and then into Middle English as comment.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Classical Latin commentum meant “invention, fabrication.” en.wiktionary.org
- In Late Latin, commentum acquired the meanings “comment, interpretation.” en.wiktionary.org
- The Latin word passed into Old French as coment, meaning “commentary.” en.wiktionary.org
- The word subsequently entered Middle English as comment. en.wiktionary.org
Latin commentārī had the senses "to consider thoroughly," "think over," "discuss," and "write upon," and it gave Middle English commenten.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Latin commentārī had the senses “to consider thoroughly,” “think over,” “discuss,” and “write upon.” en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English commenten derived from Latin commentārī. en.wiktionary.org