column

[kol-uh m]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR column ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Architecture.

a rigid, relatively slender, upright support, composed of relatively few pieces.
a decorative pillar, most often composed of stone and typically having a cylindrical or polygonal shaft with a capital and usually a base.

any columnlike object, mass, or formation: a column of smoke.

a vertical row or list: Add this column of figures.

a vertical arrangement on a page of horizontal lines of type, usually typographically justified: There are three columns on this page.

a regular feature or series of articles in a newspaper, magazine, or the like, usually having a readily identifiable heading and the byline of the writer or editor, that reports or comments upon a particular field of interest, as politics, theater, or etiquette, or which may contain letters from readers, answers to readers' queries, etc.

a long, narrow formation of troops in which there are more members in line in the direction of movement than at right angles to the direction (distinguished from line¹def 35).

a formation of ships in single file.

Botany. a columnlike structure in an orchid flower, composed of the united stamens and style.

Origin of column

1400–50; late Middle English columne < Latin columna, equivalent to colum(e)n peak + -a feminine ending; akin to excel; replacing late Middle English colompne < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Related formscol·umned

[kol-uh md] /ˈkɒl əmd/, col·um·nat·ed

[kol-uh m-ney-tid] /ˈkɒl əmˌneɪ tɪd/, adjective

Synonym study

1. Column, pillar refer to upright supports in architectural structures. Pillar is the general word: the pillars supporting the roof. A column is a particular kind of pillar, especially one with an identifiable shaft, base, and capital: columns of the Corinthian order.

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

Examples from the Web for column

Contemporary Examples of column

Sometimes a column has the economy and rhythm of a short story.
The Best Columns of 2014
John Avlon, Errol Louis
December 31, 2014
Later that night, that same black-and-red banner would be seen again—in the column of marchers chanting for dead cops.
The Monsters Who Screamed for Dead Cops
Jacob Siegel
December 23, 2014
My editor called and said, “Do a column on this Lena Dunham flap!”
Up to a Point: They Made Me Write About Lena Dunham
P. J. O’Rourke
December 13, 2014
His sign was the last one people saw as the column of marchers passed them, it read, “Am I next?”
‘They Let Him Off?’ Scenes from NYC in Disbelief
Jacob Siegel
December 4, 2014
The Washington Post wrote, “it would take almost a column of The Post just to tell the names of all the animals within.”
We’re All Carnies Now: Why We Can’t Quit the Circus
Anthony Paletta
November 27, 2014

Historical Examples of column

No Lancers were seen with the column, certainly none with pennons.
Camps, Quarters and Casual Places
Archibald Forbes
Vesuvius, with its column of smoke, was in plain view from the seats.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, Mycenae
Jennie Hall
Dick was at the head of the column with Colonel Winchester and the sergeant.
The Rock of Chickamauga
Joseph A. Altsheler
Then he leisurely turned to the column indicated by his companion.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman
Yes, sure enough, the whole command was facing into column the other way!
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable

British Dictionary definitions for column

column

noun

an upright post or pillar usually having a cylindrical shaft, a base, and a capital

a form or structure in the shape of a columna column of air
a monument

a row, line, or file, as of people in a queue

military a narrow formation in which individuals or units follow one behind the other

journalism

any of two or more vertical sections of type on a printed page, esp on a newspaper page
a regular article or feature in a paperthe fashion column

a vertical array of numbers or mathematical terms

botany a long structure in a flower, such as that of an orchid, consisting of the united stamens and style

anatomy zoology any elongated structure, such as a tract of grey matter in the spinal cord or the stalk of a crinoid

Derived Formscolumnar (kəˈlʌmnə), adjectivecolumned or columnated (ˈkɒləmˌneɪtɪd), adjective

Word Origin for column

C15: from Latin columna, from columen top, peak; related to Latin collis hill

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 column

mid-15c., "vertical division of a page," also "a pillar, post," from Old French colombe (12c., Modern French colonne "column, pillar"), from Latin columna "pillar," collateral form of columen "top, summit," from PIE root *kel- "to project" (see hill). Sense of "matter written for a newspaper" dates from 1785.

Medicine definitions for column

column

[kŏl′əm]

n.

Any of various tubular or pillarlike supporting structures in the body, such as the spinal column, each generally having a single tissue origin and function.

column

noun

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Origin of column

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for column

Contemporary Examples of column

Historical Examples of column

column

noun

Word Origin for column

column

n.