colophon

English

The last page of the 1492 work Revelationes caelestes: mit Vita abbreviata sanctae Birgittae (Celestial Revelations: With a Short Life of Saint Bridget), which features a colophon and a printer's mark

Etymology

from Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn, “peak or finishing touch”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒləfən/

Noun

colophon (plural colophons)

1. In manuscripts (typically before the invention of printing), the note, usually at the end, left by the scribe who copied it, giving information on his exemplar, where and when the copy was made, and sometimes, his own name.
2. (printing) A printer's or publisher's identifying inscription or logo appearing at the end of a book, or the same appearing on the spine or dust-jacket. It generally contains factual information about the book, especially about its production, and includes details about typographic style, the fonts used, the paper used, and perhaps the binding method of the book.
3. (Internet) A page on a website identifying the details of its creation, such as the author's name and the technologies used.
4. (obsolete) A finishing stroke or crowning touch.
   • 1635, John Swan, Speculum Mundi, page 427

     He comes to the creation of man, and makes him the Colophon, or conclusion of all things else.

See also

• coronis
• vignette

Translations

end note about author and manuscript

• Armenian: հիշատակարան (hy) (hišatakaran)
• Dutch: colofon n
• French: colophon (fr) m
• German: Kolophon m

• Japanese: 奥付け (okuzuke)
• Portuguese: colofão m
• Russian: колофо́н (ru) m (kolofón)
• Turkish: baskı bilgisi

printer notice at the end of a book

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 版权页 (zh)

• French: achevé d’imprimer (fr) m

• Latvian: kolofons m
• Russian: концо́вка (ru) f (koncóvka), колофо́н (ru) m (kolofón)

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French

Etymology

from Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn, “peak or finishing touch”)

Noun

colophon m (plural colophons)

1. colophon, final notice on manuscript.
2. colophon, final notice about printer, editor, paper, etc., with bibliophilic information.

Further reading

• “colophon” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).