colophon

See also: 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

Borrowed from Late Latin colophōn, from Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn, “peak or finishing touch”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒləfən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

colophon (plural colophons)

1. (printing, publishing) In manuscripts (typically before the invention of printing), the note, usually at the end, left by the scribe who copied it, giving information on their exemplar, where and when the copy was made, and sometimes, their own name.
2. (printing) A printer's or publisher's identifying inscription or logo appearing at the front or end of a book, or the same appearing on the spine or dust jacket.
3. (by extension, 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.

Related terms

• colophony (“rosin”)

Translations

end note about author and manuscript

• Armenian: հիշատակարան (hy) (hišatakaran)
• Dutch: colofon (nl) n
• Esperanto: kolofono
• French: colophon (fr) m
• Galician: colofón m
• German: Kolophon m
• Italian: colofone
• Japanese: 奥付け (okuzuke)
• Portuguese: colofão m
• Russian: колофо́н (ru) m (kolofón)
• Spanish: colofón (es) m
• Turkish: baskı bilgisi

printer notice at the end of a book

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 版权页 (zh) (bǎnquányè)

• French: achevé d’imprimer (fr) m
• Hungarian: kolofon (hu), impresszum (hu)
• Latvian: kolofons m
• Russian: концо́вка (ru) f (koncóvka), колофо́н (ru) m (kolofón)

See also

• coronis
• vignette

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin colophōn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.lɔ.fɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.lo.pʰoːn/, [ˈkɔɫ̪ɔpʰoːn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.lo.fon/, [ˈkɔːlofon]

Noun

colophōn m (genitive colophōnis); third declension

1. summit, peak

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	colophōn	colophōnēs
Genitive	colophōnis	colophōnum
Dative	colophōnī	colophōnibus
Accusative	colophōnem	colophōnēs
Ablative	colophōne	colophōnibus
Vocative	colophōn	colophōnēs

See also

• Colophon

References

• “colophon”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• colophon in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• colophon in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette