columbine

[kol-uh m-bahyn]

noun

a plant, Aquilegia caerula, of the buttercup family, having showy flowers with white petals and white to blue sepals that form long, backward spurs: the state flower of Colorado.

any of various other plants of the genus Aquilegia, characterized by divided leaves and showy flowers of various colors.

Origin of columbine

1275–1325; Middle English < Medieval Latin columbīna (herba) dovelike (plant), feminine of Latin columbīnus (see columbine²); the inverted flower looks like a group of doves

columbine

[kol-uh m-bahyn, -bin]

adjective

of a dove.

dovelike; dove-colored.

Origin of columbine

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin columbīnus, equivalent to columb(a) dove + -īnus -ine¹

Columbine

[kol-uh m-bahyn]

noun

a female character in commedia dell'arte and pantomime: sweetheart of Harlequin.

a female given name.

Origin of Columbine

1720–30; < Italian Columbina literally, dovelike girl; see columbine²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for columbine

Contemporary Examples of columbine

In the eyes of the NRA, Rambo is as grave a threat to gun rights as The Fonz—or the director of Bowling for Columbine.
Rambo Hates Guns: How Sylvester Stallone Became the Most Anti-Gun Celeb in Hollywood
Asawin Suebsaeng
August 14, 2014
Gun massacres like Newtown and Columbine can destroy communities, families, and schools.
Hands Off Those Gun Laws, Judges
Eric Segall
June 1, 2014
But school-based arrests in Pennsylvania alone went up by 300 percent since Columbine.
‘Kids for Cash’: Crooked Judge, Damaged Teens, and the Perils of Zero Tolerance
Ronald K. Fried
February 25, 2014
“Before Columbine, juvenile crime had been coming down,” May said.
‘Kids for Cash’: Crooked Judge, Damaged Teens, and the Perils of Zero Tolerance
Ronald K. Fried
February 25, 2014
In a kind of manifesto, the Virginia Tech killer had written about the two Columbine killers.
What if the Founding Fathers Saw Newtown?
Michael Daly
December 13, 2013

Historical Examples of columbine

Fennel, for instance, emblemised flattery, and columbine ingratitude.
Storyology
Benjamin Taylor
Climene had been silent and thoughtful, pondering what Columbine had called this romance of hers.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
There, still at his brooding, the returning Columbine discovered him a half-hour later.
Scaramouche
Rafael Sabatini
Columbine snapped like the shrew she masked: "You little sneak!"
Nobody
Louis Joseph Vance
Hold on a minute, I'm going to shift my saddle to Columbine.
Peggy Stewart at School
Gabrielle E. Jackson

British Dictionary definitions for columbine

columbine

noun

any plant of the ranunculaceous genus Aquilegia, having purple, blue, yellow, or red flowers with five spurred petalsAlso called: aquilegia

Word Origin for columbine

C13: from Medieval Latin columbīna herba dovelike plant, from Latin columbīnus dovelike, from the resemblance of the flower to a group of doves

columbine

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling a dove

Word Origin for columbine

C14: from Old French colombin, from Latin columbīnus dovelike, from columba dove

Columbine

noun

(originally) the character of a servant girl in commedia dell'arte

(later) the sweetheart of Harlequin in English pantomime

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for columbine

c.1300, from Old French columbine "columbine," or directly from Medieval Latin columbina, from Late Latin columbina "verbena," fem. of Latin columbinus, literally "dove-like," from columba "dove." The inverted flower supposedly resembles a cluster of five doves. Also a fem. proper name; in Italian comedy, the name of the mistress of Harlequin.