LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

comes

comes m or f (genitive comitis)
Classical[ˈkɔ.mɛs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkɔː.mes]
№ 448 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. femininemasculinea companion, comrade, partner, associate
    Comitemne sorōrem / sprēvistī moriēns?“Did you not spurn your sister as a companion in death?”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.677-678
  2. femininemasculinean attendant, a servant
  3. Medieval Latinfemininemasculinea count, an earl

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quī cum aliō it; itineris socius.
comes -itis m/f — in Mille Verba, ch. Via et Iter
quī potentem comitātur
comes -itis (m) — in Epistulae, ch. 14

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecomescomitēs
genitivecomitiscomitum
dativecomitīcomitibus
accusativecomitemcomitēs
ablativecomitecomitibus
vocativecomescomitēs

cŏm-ĕs, ĭtis, comm. con and 1. eo (lit. one who goes with another),
I. a companion, an associate, comrade, partaker, sharer, partner, etc. (whether male or female; class. and freq.).
I. In gen.
a. Masc.: age, age, argentum numera, ne comites morer, Plaut. Ep. 5, 1, 25: confugere domum sine comite, Ter. Hec. 5, 3, 25: comes meus fuit, et omnium itinerum meorum socius, Cic. Fam. 13, 71: erat comes ejus Rubrius, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 25, § 64: cui tu me comitem putas esse, id. Att. 8, 7, 1: ibimus, o socii comitesque, Hor. C. 1, 7, 26; Lucr. 3, 1037; 4, 575: Catulli, Cat. 11, 1: Pisonis, id. 28, 1; Nep. Ages. 6, 3: quin et avo comitem sese Mavortius addet Romulus, Verg. A. 6, 778; cf.: comes ire alicui, id. ib. 6, 159: comitem aliquem mittere alicui, id. ib. 2, 86: comes esse alicui, Ov. H. 14, 54 et saep. —
(b). With gen. or dat. of thing: cum se victoriae Pompeji comitem esse mallet quam, etc., Caes. B. C. 3, 80: comitem illius furoris, Cic. Lael. 11, 37: me tuarum actionum, sententiarum, etc., socium comitemque habebis, id. Fam. 1, 9, 22: mortis et funeris atri, Lucr. 2, 581: tantae virtutis, Liv. 22, 60, 12: exsilii, Mart. 12, 25: fugae, Vell. 2, 53; Liv. 1, 3, 2; Cic. Att. 9, 10, 2; cf. Suet. Tib. 6: me habuisti comitem consiliis tuis, Plaut. Ps. 1, 1, 15.—With in: comes in ulciscendis quibusdam, Cic. Fam. 1, 9, 2.—
b. Fem., Ter. Eun. 2, 3, 54; Lucr. 5, 741: data sum comes inculpata Minervae, Ov. M. 2, 588; cf. id. H. 3, 10: me tibi venturam comitem, id. ib. 13, 163; Verg. A. 4, 677; 6, 448.—
B. Transf. to inanimate objects: malis erat angor Assidue comes, Lucr. 6, 1159: comes formidinis, aura, id. 3, 290: ploratus mortis comites, id. 2, 580: tunc vitae socia virtus, mortis comes gloria fuisset, Cic. Font. 21, 49 (17, 39): multarum deliciarum comes est extrema saltatio, id. Mur. 6, 13: pacis est comes, otiique socia eloquentia, id. Brut. 12, 45; cf. an idea (perh. intentionally) opp. to this, Tac. Or. 40: non ut ullam artem doctrinamve contemneres, sed ut omnis comites ac ministratrices oratoris esse diceres, Cic. de Or. 1, 17, 75: cui ipsi casus eventusque rerum non duces sed comites consiliorum fuerunt, id. Balb. 4, 9: exanimatio. quas comes pavoris, id. Tusc. 4, 8, 19: (grammatice) dulcis secretorum comes, Quint. 1, 4, 5: (cura) comes atra premit sequiturque fugacem, Hor. S. 2, 7, 115: culpam poena premit comes, id. C. 4, 5, 24: nec (fides) comitem abnegat, id. ib. 1, 35, 22: comitemque aeris alieni atque litis esse miseriam, Orac. ap. Plin. 7, 32, 32, § 119.—
II. In partic.
A. An overseer, tutor, teacher, etc., of young persons (rare; not ante-Aug.), Verg. A. 2, 86; 5, 546; Suet. Tib. 12; Stat. S. 5, 2, 60.— Esp. = paedagogus, a slave who accompanied boys as a protector, Suet. Aug. 98; id. Claud. 35.—Far more freq.,
B. The suite, retinue of friends, relatives, scholars, noble youth, etc., which accompanied magistrates into the provinces, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 10, § 27 sq; id. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 3, § 11; Hor. Ep. 1, 8, 2; Suet. Caes. 42; id. Ner. 5; id. Gram. 10.—
C. The attendants of distinguished private individuals, Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 76; 1, 17, 52; id. S. 1, 6, 102; Suet. Caes. 4.—Trop.: (Cicero) in libris de Republica Platonis se comitem profitetur, Plin. praef. § 22.—
D. After the time of the emperors, the imperial train, the courtiers, court, Suet. Aug. 16; 98; id. Tib. 46; id. Calig. 45; id. Vit. 11; id. Vesp. 4; Inscr. Orell. 723; 750 al.—Hence,
E. In late Lat., a designation for the occupant of any state office, as, comes scholarum, rei militaris, aerarii utriusque, commerciorum (hence, Ital. conte; Fr. comte).

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  3. Proto-Italic*kom
  4. Proto-Italic*kom-
  5. Latincomes

Latin com- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-h₁its Proto-Italic *-its Latin -es Latin comes From com- (“together”) + -es (“-faring”). Compare typologically English associate (via Latin, <<~ (ad- +) Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to follow”)), Russian после́дователь (poslédovatelʹ) (akin to сле́довать (slédovatʹ)), спу́тник (spútnik) (akin to путь (putʹ)), сосе́д (soséd) (akin to сиде́ть (sidétʹ)).

Descendants
  • Catalancòmit
  • Englishcomes
  • Italiancomito
  • Italianconte
  • Englishcountfrom Old French cuens
  • Romaniancontefrom Old French cuens
  • Frenchcomtefrom Old French cuens
  • Englishcomtefrom Old French cuens
  • Catalancomtefrom Old Occitan comte
  • Occitancomtefrom Old Occitan comte

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesComesComes denotes originally a fellow-traveller: hence it is applied to the members of the retinue of a magistrate or high official sent into the province…

Quick answers

What does comes mean in Latin?
comes, a noun, means “a companion, comrade, partner, associate; an attendant, a servant; a count, an earl”.
What is the genitive of comes?
The genitive singular is comitis. comes is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce comes?
In classical Latin, [ˈkɔ.mɛs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkɔː.mes].
Where does comes come from?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? → Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm → Proto-Italic *kom → Proto-Italic *kom- → Latin comes.