comma

English comma comes from Latin comma, borrowed from Ancient Greek κόμμα (kómma), which itself derives from κόπτω (kóptō), meaning 'to cut.'

The Greek word κόμμα referred to a piece cut off, and this sense of a small severed segment passed into Latin as comma before English adopted the word directly.

It shares its root with κόπτω (kóptō, 'to cut'), the Ancient Greek verb that gave the noun its original meaning of a cut piece.