column

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

Contents

[edit] English

Columns in temple of Bel, Syria
Columns in typography

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English columne (column (of a page)), which from Latin columna (a column, pillar, post), originally a collateral form of columen, contraction culmen (a pillar, top, crown, summit), o-grade form from a Proto Indo-European root *kʷel- (going around). Akin to Latin collis (a hill), celsus (high), probably to Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophōn, top, summit).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

column (plural columns)

  1. A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.
  2. A vertical line of entries in a table, usually read from top to bottom.
  3. A body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road.
  4. A body of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that has multiple adjacent such on a single page.
    It was too hard to read the text across the whole page, so I split it into two columns.
  5. A unit of width, especially of advertisements, in a periodical, equivalent to the width of a usual column of text.
    Each column inch costs $300 a week; this ad is four columns by three inches, so will run $3600 a week.
  6. (by extension) A recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece, especially by a single author or small rotating group of authors, or on a single theme.
    His initial foray into print media was as the author of a weekly column in his elementary-school newspaper.
  7. Something having similar vertical form or structure to the things mentioned above, such as a spinal column.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Antonyms

  • (line of table entries): row (which is horizontal)

[edit] Hypernyms

  • (upright structure): beam

[edit] Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

[edit] External links

Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Views
Actions
Navigation
Toolbox
In other languages