1. a serious medical condition where a person lies completely still without any res
1.nounB2
Definition
a serious medical condition where a person lies completely still without any response to the world around them for days or weeks, often because the brain has been damaged by a crash, a disease, or toxic substances
Example
After the car crash, Aiko was in a coma for three weeks.
be in a coma (state)
The doctors explained that Hana's coma was caused by a severe brain infection.
coma caused by [cause]
Ravi slowly came out of his coma and began to recognize his family.
come out of a coma (recovery)
Patients in a coma sometimes respond to the sound of a familiar voice.
The boxer was put into a medically induced coma to reduce swelling in his brain.
a more severe long-term condition where the person shows no awareness of the environment; coma patients may regain consciousness, but vegetative state rarely improves
All three terms describe a loss of awareness, but they differ in depth, duration, and cause. Unconsciousness is the broadest term — it covers everything from a brief fainting spell to a drug-induced sleep; a person can be unconscious for seconds or hours. A coma is a specific medical condition: deep, prolonged unconsciousness caused by brain damage from injury, illness, or poisoning, and the person cannot be woken at all. A vegetative state is even more severe — the person may open their eyes or make sounds but shows no meaningful response to the world around them. Stupor is a lighter state: the person appears asleep but can be roused briefly by strong stimulation. For example, a concussion might cause temporary unconsciousness, a car crash survivor might lie in a coma for weeks, and a patient with severe brain damage may enter a vegetative state from which recovery is unlikely.
The word coma entered English in the 1600s from the medical Latin coma, which itself came from the Greek kōma meaning 'deep sleep'. Ancient Greek doctors used kōma to describe a heavy, unnatural sleep that sometimes followed a serious illness or head injury, a meaning that has stayed remarkably close to the modern medical term.