col

See also: Appendix:Variations of "col"

Languages (23)

Translingual • English

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Asturian • Catalan • Crimean Tatar • Dalmatian • Dutch • French • Galician • Hungarian • Irish • Italian • Middle English • Middle French • Old English • Old French • Old Irish • Scottish Gaelic • Serbo-Croatian • Spanish • Tocharian B • Vilamovian • Welsh

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Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

col

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Columbia-Wenatchi.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Columbia-Wenatchi terms

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɒl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɑl/
• Rhymes: -ɒl
• Homophones: coll; call, caul (cot–caught merger)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French col, from Latin collum (“neck”). Doublet of collum.

Noun

col (plural cols)

1. (geography) A dip on a mountain ridge between two peaks.

   Synonym: (South Africa) nek

   Coordinate terms: bealach, mountain pass, pass, saddle, hause

   • 1999, Harish Kapadia, “Ascents in the Panch Chuli Group”, in Across Peaks & Passes in Kumaun Himalaya, New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 136:

     We spent half an hour on the summit before returning to our camp, where we stuffed the frozen tent and all the gear into our packs and started the long descent of the southwest ridge to rejoin Harish and others who were still encamped on the col at the foot of it.

   • 2012, Paul Lee, Vignettes: Musings and Reminiscences of a Modern Renaissance Man, page 344:

     I recall one specific trip when we climbed to Madison Hut which is located in the col between Mount Madison and Mount Jefferson.

   • 2019, Alan Staniforth, Cleveland Way, page 74:

     Turn left through a gate in the right angle of the wall and drop down to a col before climbing up the hill.

2. (meteorology) A pressure region between two anticyclones and two low-pressure regions.

   Synonym: saddle point

Derived terms

• North Col

Translations

dip between mountain peaks

• Bulgarian: проход (bg) (prohod), седловина (sedlovina)
• Catalan: coll (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 山坳 (zh) (shān'ào)

• Czech: sedlo (cs) n, průsmyk (cs) m
• French: col (fr) m
• Galician: portela f, golada f
• Georgian: უნაგირა (unagira)
• German: Joch (de) n
• Hungarian: nyereg (hu)
• Irish: col m
• Italian: forcella (it) f, colle (it) m
• Japanese: たわ (ja) (tawa), コル (ja) (koru)
• Russian: седловина (ru) (sedlovina), перева́л (ru) (perevál)
• Spanish: collado (es) m

See also

• hausse-col

Further reading

• col on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• col (meteorology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• mountain pass on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Abbreviation

Noun

col (plural cols)

1. Clipping of column.
2. Abbreviation of color.

Anagrams

• 'loc, CLO, Clo, LOC, LoC, OCL, OLC, loc, loc.

Asturian

Etymology

From a contraction of the preposition con (“with”) + masculine singular article el (“the”).

Contraction

col m (feminine cola, neuter colo, masculine plural colos, feminine plural coles)

1. with the

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈkɔl]

• Audio (Valencia):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin caulem (“stalk, stem”), from Ancient Greek καυλός (kaulós, “stem of a plant”).

Noun

col f (plural cols)

1. cabbage

Derived terms

• a qui no vol cols, dos plats
• cada dia cols, amarguen
• col de Brussel·les
• col de Milà
• col llombarda
• col verda
• col xinesa
• colrave

Related terms

• coliflor

Etymology 2

From Latin coagulum. Doublet of quall and coàgul, a borrowing.

Noun

col m (plural cols)

1. (Pallars) wild cardoon (used as a coagulating agent in cheesemaking)

   Synonym: card formatger

Derived terms

• colet
• herbacol

Related terms

• coler

Further reading

• “col”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “col”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “col” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “col” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Crimean Tatar

Noun

col (Northern dialect)

1. road, way

Usage notes

• Literary form: yol

Declension

Declension of col

nominative	col
genitive	colnıñ
dative	colğa
accusative	colnı
locative	colda
ablative	coldan

Dalmatian

Alternative forms

• coll

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *cu illu, contracted from the accusative of Vulgar Latin *eccum ille. Compare Italian quello, Romanian acel, Old French cil, Spanish aquel.

Pronoun

col

1. that

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: col
• Rhymes: -ɔl
• Homophone: kol

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French col (“collar”), from Latin collum (“neck”).

Noun

col m (plural cols, diminutive colletje n)

1. (informal, chiefly Belgium) (clothing) collar

   Synonym: kraag

2. turtleneck (high, close-fitting collar)

Derived terms

• coljurk
• coltrui

Noun

col m (plural collen, diminutive colletje n)

1. (informal, Belgium, sports) mountain pass

   Synonym: bergpas

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French colle.

Noun

col f (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. (informal, Belgium) glue

   Synonym: lijm

Related terms

• collage

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French col, from Latin collum (“neck”). Doublet of cou.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

• Homophones: colle, collent, colles, cols

Noun

col m (plural cols)

1. (clothing) collar
2. (geography) col (dip on a mountain ridge)
3. (anatomy, dated) neck

   Synonym: cou

4. neck (of objects, vases etc.)

   le col d'une bouteille ― the neck of a bottle

Derived terms

• col Danton
• col de l'utérus
• col Mao
• col romain
• col roulé

Related terms

• cou
• collier

Descendants

• → Hausa: kwal

Further reading

• “col”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Coles or verzas

Alternative forms

• coia, couva

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese col (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from an older unattested *coule, from Latin caulis. Cognate with Portuguese couve and Spanish col.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔl/

Noun

col f (plural coles)

1. collard; wild mustard, wild cabbage; kale; Brassica oleracea var. acephala

   Synonyms: coella, verza

Derived terms

• coella
• coíña
• coíñeiro

Related terms

• coliflor

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “col”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “coles”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “couues”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “col”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “col”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “col”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Zoll.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sol]
• Hyphenation: col
• Rhymes: -ol

Noun

col (plural colok)

1. inch

   Synonym: hüvelyk

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	col	colok
accusative	colt	colokat
dative	colnak	coloknak
instrumental	collal	colokkal
causal-final	colért	colokért
translative	collá	colokká
terminative	colig	colokig
essive-formal	colként	colokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	colban	colokban
superessive	colon	colokon
adessive	colnál	coloknál
illative	colba	colokba
sublative	colra	colokra
allative	colhoz	colokhoz
elative	colból	colokból
delative	colról	colokról
ablative	coltól	coloktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	colé	coloké
non-attributive possessive – plural	coléi	colokéi

Possessive forms of col

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	colom	coljaim
2nd person sing.	colod	coljaid
3rd person sing.	colja	coljai
1st person plural	colunk	coljaink
2nd person plural	colotok	coljaitok
3rd person plural	coljuk	coljaik

Derived terms

• colos

Further reading

• col in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• col in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kɔl̪ˠ]

Etymology 1

From Old Irish col, from Proto-Celtic *kulom.

Noun

col m (genitive singular coil, nominative plural colanna)

1. prohibition
2. sin, lust
3. violation
4. dislike
5. incest

   Synonyms: ciorrú coil, corbadh

6. relation, relationship

Declension

Declension of col (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative col colanna vocative a choil a cholanna genitive coil colanna dative col colanna forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an col na colanna genitive an choil na gcolanna dative leis an gcol don chol leis na colanna

Derived terms

• col ceathar
• col ceathrair
• col cúigir
• col gaoil
• col seisir
• colscaradh

Etymology 2

From French col (“neck”).

Noun

col m (genitive singular coil, nominative plural coil)

1. (geography) col

Declension

Declension of col (first declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative col coil vocative a choil a chola genitive coil col dative col coil forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an col na coil genitive an choil na gcol dative leis an gcol don chol leis na coil

Mutation

Mutated forms of col

radical	lenition	eclipsis
col	chol	gcol

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “col”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959), “col”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “col”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026

Italian

Contraction

col

1. contraction of con il; with the

Middle English

Alternative forms

• coul, coyl
• cal, cale, kal, kale (Northern)

Etymology 1

From Old English cāl, variant of cawel, borrowed from Latin caulis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔːl/
• (Northern) IPA^(key): /kaːl/

Noun

col (plural coles)

1. cabbage, kale, colewort

Descendants

• English: cole, kale, kail
• Scots: cale, caill, kail
• Yola: kaayle ⇒ Coolpeach
• → Irish: cál

References

• “cōl, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English col

Noun

col (plural coles)

1. charcoal
2. coal (the mineral)
3. coal (ember)

Descendants

• English: coal

References

• “cōl, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French col, from Latin collum.

Noun

col m (plural cols)

1. (anatomy) the neck

Descendants

• French: cou, col

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *kōl(ī). Cognate with Old High German kuoli.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koːl/
• Rhymes: -oːl

Adjective

cōl (comparative cōlra, superlative cōlost)

1. cool (not hot or warm)

Declension

Declension of cōl — Strong

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cōl	cōl	cōl
Accusative	cōlne	cōle	cōl
Genitive	cōles	cōlre	cōles
Dative	cōlum	cōlre	cōlum
Instrumental	cōle	cōlre	cōle
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cōle	cōla, cōle	cōl
Accusative	cōle	cōla, cōle	cōl
Genitive	cōlra	cōlra	cōlra
Dative	cōlum	cōlum	cōlum
Instrumental	cōlum	cōlum	cōlum

Declension of cōl — Weak

Singular	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cōla	cōle	cōle
Accusative	cōlan	cōlan	cōle
Genitive	cōlan	cōlan	cōlan
Dative	cōlan	cōlan	cōlan
Instrumental	cōlan	cōlan	cōlan
Plural	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cōlan	cōlan	cōlan
Accusative	cōlan	cōlan	cōlan
Genitive	cōlra, cōlena	cōlra, cōlena	cōlra, cōlena
Dative	cōlum	cōlum	cōlum
Instrumental	cōlum	cōlum	cōlum

Descendants

• Middle English: col, coul, cool
  • Scots: cule, cuill, kuil
  • English: cool (see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *kol. Cognate with Old Frisian kole, Old High German kolo, Old Norse kol.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kol/
• Rhymes: -ol

Noun

col n

1. coal
2. charcoal

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	col	colu
accusative	col	colu
genitive	coles	cola
dative	cole	colum

Derived terms

• colmāse
• colpytt
• colsweart

Descendants

• Middle English: col
  • English: coal

Old French

Etymology

Inherited from Latin collum. Cognate with Old Galician-Portuguese colo and Old Spanish cuello.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔl/
• Rhymes: -ɔl

Noun

col oblique singular, m (oblique plural cous or cox or cols, nominative singular cous or cox or cols, nominative plural col)

1. (anatomy) neck

Related terms

• coler

Descendants

• Middle French: col
  • French: cou, col
• Norman: co
• Walloon: cô

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *kulɸom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkol/

Noun

col n (genitive cuil)

1. sin, violation

Inflection

Neuter o-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	colN	colN	colL, cola
vocative	colN	colN	colL, cola
accusative	colN	colN	colL, cola
genitive	cuilL	col	colN
dative	colL	colaib	colaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Derived terms

• mórchol

Descendants

• Irish: col
• Scottish Gaelic: col (“incest”)

Mutation

Mutation of col

radical	lenition	nasalization
col	chol	col pronounced with /ɡ-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “col”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish col (“sin”).

Noun

col m (genitive singular cola, plural colan)

1. incest

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Zoll.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡sôːl/

Noun

cȏl m inan (Cyrillic spelling цо̑л)

1. inch

Declension

Declension of col

	singular	plural
nominative	col	colovi
genitive	cola	colova
dative	colu	colovima
accusative	col	colove
vocative	cole	colovi
locative	colu	colovima
instrumental	col	colovima

Related terms

• ȉnč, pȁlac

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkol/ [ˈkol]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ol
• Syllabification: col

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin caulem (“stalk, stem”), from Ancient Greek καυλός (kaulós, “stem of a plant”). Cognate with English cole and chou.

Noun

col f (plural coles)

1. cabbage

   Synonyms: berza, repollo

Derived terms

• col china
• col de Bruselas
• col kale
• col lombarda
• col marina
• col rizada
• col verde
• coliflor
• colinabo

Related terms

• brécol

Descendants

• → Tagalog: koles
• → Taos: kùliʼína

Etymology 2

From a contraction of the preposition con (“with”) + masculine singular article el (“the”).

Contraction

col m (feminine cola, neuter colo, masculine plural colos, feminine plural colas)

1. (obsolete) contraction of con and el

Further reading

• “col”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Tocharian B

Adjective

col

1. wild

Vilamovian

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

cōl m (plural cōln)

1. inch (unit of measure)

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔl/
• Rhymes: -ɔl

Noun

col m (plural colion, diminutive colyn)

1. awn
2. chaff

   Synonyms: eisin, hedion

3. hinge

   Synonyms: colyn, colfach, corddyn, crogfach, bach

Derived terms

• colfach (“hinge, pivot”)
• colyn (“prick, sting, pivot”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of col

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
col	gol	nghol	chol

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “col”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “col”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies