Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Comment in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels comment as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Comment

[F. commenter, L. commentari to meditate upon, explain, v. intens. of comminisci, commentus, to reflect upon, invent; com- + the root of meminisse to remember, mens mind. See Mind.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordcomment
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[F. commenter, L. commentari to meditate upon, explain, v. intens. of comminisci, commentus, to reflect upon, invent; com- + the root of meminisse to remember, mens mind. See Mind.]
Selected historical definitionTo make remarks, observations, or criticism; especially, to write notes on the works of an author, with a view to illustrate his meaning, or to explain particular passages; to write annotations; -- often followed by on or upon.
Signed record IDwebster1913-comment-verb-67f8995aa6a2
Source locatorCIDE.C, paragraph 12053; Gutenberg eBook 661
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 661Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "comment" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[F. commenter, L. commentari to meditate upon, explain, v. intens. of comminisci, commentus, to reflect upon, invent; com- + the root of meminisse to remember, mens mind. See Mind.]" The selected historical definition says: "To make remarks, observations, or criticism; especially, to write notes on the works of an author, with a view to illustrate his meaning, or to explain particular passages; to write annotations; -- often followed by on or upon."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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[Cf. Scot. came, caim, comb, and OE. camet silver.]

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