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• colophon
  colophon

  noun

  a publisher's or printer's distinctive emblem, used as an identifying device on its books and other works.
• Colophon
  Colophon

  noun

  an ancient city in Asia Minor: one of the 12 Ionian cities banded together in the 8th century b.c.: largely depopulated in 286 b.c.

colophon

¹ American  

[kol-uh-fon, -fuhn] / ˈkɒl əˌfɒn, -fən /

noun

1. a publisher's or printer's distinctive emblem, used as an identifying device on its books and other works.

2. an inscription at the end of a book or manuscript, used especially in the 15th and 16th centuries, giving the title or subject of the work, its author, the name of the printer or publisher, and the date and place of publication.

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Colophon ² American  

[kol-uh-fon] / ˈkɒl əˌfɒn /

noun

1. an ancient city in Asia Minor: one of the 12 Ionian cities banded together in the 8th century b.c.: largely depopulated in 286 b.c.

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colophon British  

/ -fən, ˈkɒləˌfɒn /

noun

1. a publisher's emblem on a book

2. (formerly) an inscription at the end of a book showing the title, printer, date, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• colophonic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of colophon

1615–25; < Latin < Greek kolophṓn summit, finishing touch

Explanation

A colophon is the emblem, logo, or imprint of a publisher. Colophons often appear on the title page of a book. Businesses usually have distinctive logos, and publishers are no different. The emblem or imprint of a publisher is called a colophon, and you can think of it as their brand. A colophon appears on every book put out by a publisher, and it often appears on the spine of the book and/or on the title page. The colophon lets everyone know who published the book. This word is from Greek via Latin and originally meant "finishing touch."

Example Sentences

He once wrote a readable one: Curse in the Colophon.

From Time Magazine Archive

Persons who are literary-minded read magazines like The Bookman, The Saturday Review of Literature, The Colophon, But the booklover and the average reader may be completely different persons.

From Time Magazine Archive

On the return of Mentes, he accompanied him to Colophon, where he became totally blind.

From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by Haines, T. L. (Thomas Louis)

The elegy of Mimnermus of Smyrna or Colophon is the plaintive farewell of an ease-loving Ionian to the days of Ionian freedom.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various

A year later, however, Antipater banished some 12,000 of the poorer citizens, and Epicurus joined his father, who was now living at Colophon.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6 "English Language" to "Epsom Salts" by Various