Etymology : Middle English columne, from Middle French colomne, from Latin columna, from columen top; akin to Latin collis hill; more at HILL
Pronunciation : kä-l&m
also k&
Function : noun
Date : 15th century
1. pillar (Architecture); line (people or things); vertical row of words or numbers (in a book, newspaper, etc.); regular feature (in a newspaper, magazine, etc.). column\col"umn\ , n. [l. columna, fr. columen, culmen, fr. cellere (used only in comp.), akin to e. excel, and prob. to holm. see:
holm, and cf. colonel.].
2. (arch.) a kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital. see:
order.
3. anything resembling, in form or position, a column in architecture; an upright body or mass; a shaft or obelisk; as, a column of air, of water, of mercury, etc.; the column vendôme; the spinal column.
4. (mil.) (a) a body of troops formed in ranks, one behind the other; -- contradistinguished from line. compare ploy, and deploy. (b) a small army.
5. (naut.) a number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in single or double file or in squadrons; -- in distinction from "line", where they are side by side.
6. (print.) a perpendicular set of lines, not extending across the page, and separated from other matter by a rule or blank space; as, a column in a newspaper.
7. (arith.) a perpendicular line of figures.
8. (bot.) the body formed by the union of the stamens in the mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids.
9. A kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital.
10. See Order.
11. Anything resembling, in form or position, a column in architecture; an upright body or mass; a shaft or obelisk; as, a column of air, of water, of mercury, etc.; the Column Vendôme; the spinal column.
12. A body of troops formed in ranks, one behind the other; contradistinguished from line.
13. Compare Ploy, and Deploy.
14. A small army.
15. A number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in single or double file or in squadrons; in distinction from "line", where they are side by side.
16. A perpendicular set of lines, not extending across the page, and separated from other matter by a rule or blank space; as, a column in a newspaper.
17. A perpendicular line of figures.
18. The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids. a tall cylindrical vertical upright and used to support a structure a vertical structure standing alone and not supporting anything a vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form colored bands an article giving opinions or perspectives a line of units following one after another a linear array of numbers one above another anything tall and thin approximating the shape of a column or tower; "the test tube held a column of white powder"; "a tower of dust rose above the horizon"; "a thin pillar of smoke betrayed their campsite".
19. 1. A column is a tall, often decorated cylinder of stone which is built to honour someone or forms part of a building. a London landmark, Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. = pillar.
20. A column is something that has a tall narrow shape. The explosion sent a column of smoke thousands of feet into the air.
21. A column is a group of people or animals which moves in a long line. There were reports of columns of military vehicles appearing on the streets.
22. On a printed page such as a page of a dictionary, newspaper, or printed chart, a column is one of two or more vertical sections which are read downwards. We had stupidly been looking at the wrong column of figures.
23. In a newspaper or magazine, a column is a section that is always written by the same person or is always about the same topic. She also writes a regular column for the Times Educational Supplement. see also:
agony column, gossip column, personal column, spinal column, steering column. In architecture, a vertical element, usually a slender shaft, that provides structural support by carrying axial loads in compression; columns are also subject to buckling. Columns may be exposed or hidden in walls; constructed of precast concrete, masonry, stone, or wood or of steel wide-flange, pipe, or tubular sections; they may be plain, fluted, or sculpted, with or without a capital and base. Columns may also be nonstructural, used for decorative or monumental purposes. See also intercolumniation, order.