Columbus

See also: columbus

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin columbus (“a dove”). The verb is a reference to the Italian explorer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈlʌmbəs/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Proper noun

Columbus

1. A male given name from Latin.
2. A surname
3. Christopher Columbus (1451?–1506), Italian explorer of the Americas.
4. The capital city of the state of Ohio in the United States of America, and the county seat of Franklin County.
5. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States.
   1. A city, the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated.
   2. A city in Bartholomew County, Indiana.
   3. A city, the county seat of Cherokee County, Kansas.
   4. A city, the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States.
   5. A town, the county seat of Stillwater County, Montana.
   6. A city, the county seat of Platte County, Nebraska.
   7. A town, the county seat of Polk County, North Carolina.
   8. A city, the county seat of Colorado County, Texas, United States.

Synonyms

• (capital city of Ohio): Col's

Derived terms

• Columbian
• Columbian Exchange
• Columbus County

Translations

given male name

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哥倫布／哥伦布 (zh) (Gēlúnbù), 哥伦布 (zh) (Gēlúnbù)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: Κολόμβος m (Kolómvos)
• Russian: Колу́мбус (ru) m (Kolúmbus)

surname

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哥倫布／哥伦布 (zh) (Gēlúnbù), 哥伦布 (zh) (Gēlúnbù)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: Colombo (it) m or f
• Russian: Колу́мбус (ru) m or f (Kolúmbus)

Christopher Columbus

• Catalan: Colom (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哥倫布／哥伦布 (zh) (Gēlúnbù), 哥伦布 (zh) (Gēlúnbù)

• Dutch: Christoffel (nl) m
• Esperanto: Kolumbo
• Finnish: Kolumbus
• French: Colomb (fr) m, Christophe Colomb m
• German: Kolumbus m
• Hungarian: Kolumbusz Kristóf
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: Cristoforo Colombo m, Colombo (it) m
• Japanese: コロンブス (Koronbusu)
• Korean: 콜럼버스 (Kolleombeoseu)
• Oriya: କଲମ୍ବସ୍ (or) (kôlômbôs)
• Portuguese: Colombo (pt) m
• Romanian: Columb m
• Russian: Колу́мб (ru) m (Kolúmb)
• Spanish: Cristóbal Colón m, Colón (es) m
• Vietnamese: Kha Luân Bố (dated)

Verb

1. (possibly dated, slang) To explore; to go around exploring, to go around as an explorer.
   • 1893, American Boys Afloat: Or, Cruising in the Orient, page 150:

     "But, boy the powers of mud, I belayve you fellers mane to make an indepindint cruise in the Orient, and go Columbusing all over the ocean boy the way ye's talk!"

   • 1908, Out West, volume 28, page 90:

     Callous as the old mummy was about anything and everything save his pet hobby, archaeology, he would sit up and take notice of such a vision ; and Peter felt that, having Columbused the discovery, he had the better right to it.

   • 1908, Sunset, volume 20, page 271:

     To the west of the river lay the country in which I went Columbusing — the enchanted desert whose southern boundary was where the sky reached down and merged with the earth curve, and whose northern limit was the Harqua Hala range […]

   • 1921, Forest Leaves, volume 15, page lxx:

     No street car line passes it, so you'll have to do a little Columbusing on your own account-to find it-—but it's worth discovering, and President Gardner's phophecy sounds conservative.

2. To appropriate; to lay claim to something, especially a discovery, which belongs to someone else.
   • 2014, NPR: 'Columbusing': The Art Of Discovering Something That Is Not New:

     Of course, there is no bouncer, but we can be careful not to Columbus other culture's traditions.

   • 2015, Elucidating Social Science Concepts: An Interpretivist Guide:

     It is control of stories and storytelling that are ultimately at stake for this blogger and for others who speak of Columbusing in Washington, DC […]