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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  

/ ˈkɒləˌfɒn, -fən /

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

• 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

See Examples For:

colophon Colophon

The differences between the editions, which begin with the colophon, include extended or altered scenes and three distinct endings.

From New York Times ● May 3, 2020

In 2004, we caught a group of beetle experts with 232 colophon beetles.

From National Geographic ● Nov. 11, 2015

Avon, one of the most resolutely down-market of the major paperback imprints, used an image of Shakespeare’s head as a colophon.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 29, 2014

I washed them down with a bottle of Leninade, a Soviet-themed red lemonade served in a bottle with a hammer-and-sickle colophon.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2014

The creation date in the quest’s colophon said it had been launched several years after Halliday’s death, which meant it couldn’t have any relation to the contest.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

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

Colophon differs from the first edition in that it does not contain the printer’s address.

From The Old English Herbals by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde

Byz. in Κόρισσος.1620.The union of Apollo of Colophon, of the Ephesian Diana, and of the Nemesis of Smyrna on coins of these cities in the time of the emperors is only a mutual compliment.

From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2 by Karl Otfried Müller

Far more influence on the progress of speculation was exercised by Xenophanes of Colophon.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 14 — Philosophy and Economics by Sir John Alexander Hammerton