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colon

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Colon, cólon, colón, còlon, côlon, and Colón

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkəʊ.lən/, /ˈkəʊ.lɒn/
  • (US) enPR: kō'lən, IPA(key): /ˈkoʊ.lən/, /ˈkɔ.lən/, [ˈkʰɔ.ɫn̩]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -əʊlən, -əʊlɒn

Etymology 1

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From Latin cōlon (“a member of a verse of poem”), from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon, “a member, limb, clause, part of a verse”).

Noun

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colon (plural colons or cola)

  2. The punctuation mark ⟨:⟩.
    • 2005, William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, Penguin Press, page 15:
      A colon tells the reader that what follows is closely related to the preceding clause.
  3. (rare) The triangular colon (especially in context of not being able to type the actual triangular colon).
  4. (rhetoric) A rhetorical figure consisting of a clause which is grammatically, but not logically, complete.
  5. (palaeography) A clause or group of clauses written as a line, or taken as a standard of measure in ancient manuscripts or texts.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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See also
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Punctuation

Etymology 2

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From Latin cŏlon (“large intestine”), from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon, “the large intestine, also food, meat, fodder”).

Noun

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colon (plural colons or cola or coli)

  2. (anatomy) Part of the large intestine; the final segment of the digestive system, after (distal to) the ileum and before (proximal to) the rectum. (Because the colon is the largest part of the large intestine (constituting most of it), it is often treated as synonymous therewith in broad or casual usage.)
    • 2025 March 21, Katia Hetter, “Reduce your risk of colon and rectal cancer with these basic steps”, in CNN‎[1]:
      Colorectal cancer refers to colon cancer, which starts in the colon, and rectal cancer, which starts in the rectum.
Meronyms
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Holonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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See also
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Etymology 3

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From French colon.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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colon (plural colons)

  1. (obsolete) A husbandman.
  2. A European colonial settler, especially in a French colony.
    • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 28:
      The reaction of the European colons, a mixture of shock and fear, was to demand further draconian measures and to suspend any suggestion of new reforms.
Alternative forms
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Further reading

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  1. ^ “colon”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  2. ^ “colon”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

Anagrams

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Asturian

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Noun

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colon m (plural cólones)

  1. (anatomy) colon (digestive system)

Catalan

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Latin colōnus.

Noun

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colon m (plural colons, feminine colona, feminine plural colones)

  1. colonist, settler
  2. farmer during the Roman Empire
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Spanish colón.

Noun

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colon m (plural colons)

  1. (numismatics) colón (currency unit of Costa Rica, and formerly of El Salvador)

Further reading

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Esperanto

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Noun

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colon

  1. accusative singular of colo

French

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FWOTD – 8 July 2017

Etymology 1

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Learned borrowing from Latin colōnus.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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colon m (plural colons)

  1. colonist, colonizer, colonial settler
    • 2009, Laurent Lamoine, Le Pouvoir locale en Gaule romaine, page 240:
      Sous les auspices du dictateur A. Cornelius Cossus, les Romains viennent de remporter une victoire sur leurs voisins Volsques, Latins et Herniques, associés aux colons romains en rébellion de Circéi et Vélitrae.
      Under the dictator A. Cornelius Cossus's auspice, the Romans had just achieved a victory over their Volscian, Latin, and Hernician neighbours, associated with rebellious Roman colonists of Circeii and Velitrae.
    • 1925, Nguyễn Ái Quốc, “V - Les civilisateurs”, in Le procès de la colonisation française; translated as “V — The Civilizers”, in French Colonization on Trial (Selected Works of Hồ Chí Minh; 1)‎[2], 1st edition, Paris: Foreign Languages Press, 2021, page 288:
      Qu'ils soient militaires ou colons, ils ne conçoivent pas ordinairement d'autres formes de relations avec l'indigène que celles dont ils usent avec leurs domestiques.
      Whether they are military men or colonial settlers, they normally visualize no other kind of relations with the natives than those they have with their servants.
  2. camper (child in a colonie de vacances)
    • 2015, José Casatéjada, Via Compostela: Des Monts du Velay à la Costa da Morte, page 243:
      Une fois encore, ils me ramènent à mon enfance, aux colonies de vacances. Avec les autres petits colons, mes frères et moi trottions sur les chemins de traverse pour aller jouer dans les près ou à la rivière.
      Once again, they take me back to my childhood, to the summer camps. Together with other little campers, my brothers and I trotted on the shortcuts to go play in the meadows or by the river.
  3. sharecropper in the system of colonat partiaire
  4. (vulgar, Canada) hillbilly, hick
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Etymology 2

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See côlon.

Noun

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colon

  1. misspelling of côlon

Further reading

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Etymology 3

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Abbreviation of colonel.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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colon m

  1. (military slang) colonel
Derived terms
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Interlingua

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Noun

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colon (uncountable)

  1. (anatomy) colon

Italian

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Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

Etymology 1

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Unadapted borrowing from Latin colon, from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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colon m (invariable)

  1. (anatomy) colon (part of the body)
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Unadapted borrowing from Latin cōlon, from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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colon m (plural cola)

  1. colon (punctuation mark)

Etymology 3

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Unadapted borrowing from Spanish colón.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /koˈlɔn/
  • Rhymes: -ɔn
  • Hyphenation: co‧lòn

Noun

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colon m (plural colones)

  1. alternative form of colón

Anagrams

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Latin

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Etymology 1

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    From Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    colon n (genitive colī); second declension

    1. (anatomy) The colon; large intestine
    2. colic, a disease of the colon
    Declension
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    Second-declension noun (neuter, Greek-type).

    singular plural
    nominative colon cola
    genitive colī colōrum
    dative colō colīs
    accusative colon cola
    ablative colō colīs
    vocative colon cola
    Descendants
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    Descendants
    • → Asturian: colon (learned)
    • → English: colon
    • → French: côlon (learned)
    • → German: Kolon
    • → Esperanto: kojlo
    • → Indonesian: kolon
    • → Interlingua: colon
    • → Italian: colon (learned)
    • → Maltese: kolon
    • → Portuguese: cólon (learned)
    • → Romanian: colon (learned)
    • → Spanish: colon (learned)

    Etymology 2

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      From Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).

      Alternative forms

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      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      cōlon n (genitive cōlī); second declension

      1. a member or part of a verse of a poem
      Declension
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      Second-declension noun (neuter, Greek-type).

      singular plural
      nominative cōlon cōla
      genitive cōlī cōlōrum
      dative cōlō cōlīs
      accusative cōlon cōla
      ablative cōlō cōlīs
      vocative cōlon cōla
      Synonyms
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      Descendants
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      References

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      • “colon”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
      • “colon”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
      • “colon”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

      Romanian

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from French côlon.

      Noun

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      colon m (plural coloni)

      1. colon

      Declension

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      Declension of colon
      singular plural
      indefinite definite indefinite definite
      nominative-accusative colon colonul coloni colonii
      genitive-dative colon colonului coloni colonilor
      vocative colonule colonilor

      Spanish

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      Pronunciation

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      Etymology 1

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      From Latin cōlon, from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).

      Noun

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      colon m (plural cólones)

      1. (grammar) colon (punctuation mark)

      Etymology 2

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      From Latin cŏlon, from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).

      Noun

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      colon m (plural cólones)

      1. (anatomy) colon (part of the large intestine)
      Derived terms
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      Further reading

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      Welsh

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      Pronunciation

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      Etymology 1

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      Borrowed from English colon from Latin cōlon, from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).

      Noun

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      colon m (plural colonau)

      1. (grammar) colon (punctuation mark)
      Derived terms
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      Etymology 2

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      Borrowed from English colon from Latin cŏlon, from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).

      Noun

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      colon m or f

      1. (anatomy) colon (part of the large intestine)

      Etymology 3

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      Noun

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      colon f or m (plural colonnau)

      1. alternative form of colofn (“column”)

      Mutation

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      Mutated forms of colon
      radical soft nasal aspirate
      colon golon ngholon cholon

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

      Further reading

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      • D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “colon”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
      • Delyth Prys; J.P.M. Jones; Owain Davies; Gruffudd Prys (2006), Y Termiadur: termau wedi'u safoni; standardised terminology‎[3] (in Welsh), Cardiff: Awdurdod cymwysterau, cwricwlwm ac asesu Cymru (Qualifications curriculum & assessment authority for Wales), →ISBN
      • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “colon”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
      Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=colon&oldid=87685292"