Adjacent Words

Column definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COLUMN, n.
1. In architecture, a long round body of wood or stone, used to support or adorn a building, composed of a base, a shaft and a capital. The shaft tapers from the base, in imitation of the stem of a tree. There are five kinds or orders of columns. 1. The Tuscan, rude, simple and massy; the highth of which is fourteen semidiameters or modules, and the diminution at the top from one sixth to one eighth of the inferior diameter. 2. The Doric, which is next in strength to the Tuscan, has a robust, masculine aspect; its highth is sixteen modules. 3. The Ionic is more slender than the Tuscan and Doric; its highth is eighteen modules. 4. The Corinthian is more delicate in its form and proportions, and enriched with ornaments; its highth should be twenty modules. 5. The Composite is a species of the Corinthian, and of the same highth.
In strictness, the shaft of a column consists of one entire piece; but it is often composed of different pieces, so united, as to have the appearance of one entire piece. It differs in this respect from a pillar, which primarily signifies a pile, composed of small pieces. But the two things are unfortunately confounded; and a column consisting of a single piece of timber is absurdly called a pillar or pile.
2. An erect or elevated structure resembling a column in architecture; as the astronomical column at Paris, a kind of hollow tower with a spiral ascent to the top; gnomonic column, a cylinder on which the hour of the day is indicated by the shadow of a style; military column, among the Romans; triumphal column; etc.
3. Any body pressing perpendicularly on its base, and of the same diameter as its base; as a column of water, air or mercury.
4. In the military art, a large body of troops drawn up in order; as a solid column.
5. Among printers, a division of a page; a perpendicular set of lines separated from another set by a line or blank space. In manuscript books and papers, any separate perpendicular line or row of words or figures. A page may contain two or more columns; and in arithmetic, many columns of figures may be added.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a line of units following one after another
2: a vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form colored bands [syn: column, chromatography column]
3: a vertical array of numbers or other information; "he added a column of numbers"
4: anything that approximates the shape of a column or tower; "the test tube held a column of white powder"; "a tower of dust rose above the horizon"; "a thin pillar of smoke betrayed their campsite" [syn: column, tower, pillar]
5: an article giving opinions or perspectives [syn: column, editorial, newspaper column]
6: a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument) [syn: column, pillar]
7: (architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure [syn: column, pillar]
8: a page or text that is vertically divided; "the newspaper devoted several columns to the subject"; "the bookkeeper used pages that were divided into columns"
9: any tubular or pillar-like supporting structure in the body

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English columne, from Anglo-French columpne, from Latin columna, from columen top; akin to Latin collis hill — more at hill Date: 15th century 1. a. a vertical arrangement of items printed or written on a page b. one of two or more vertical sections of a printed page separated by a rule or blank space c. an accumulation arranged vertically ; stack d. one in a usually regular series of newspaper or magazine articles <gossip column> 2. a supporting pillar; especially one consisting of a usually round shaft, a capital, and a base 3. a. something resembling a column in form, position, or function <a column of water> b. a tube or cylinder in which a chromatographic separation takes place 4. a long row (as of soldiers) 5. one of the vertical lines of elements of a determinant or matrix 6. a statistical category or grouping <put another game in the win column> • columned adjective

Britannica Concise

In architecture, a vertical element, usually a slender shaft, that provides structural support by carrying axial loads in compression; columns are also subject to buckling. Columns may be exposed or hidden in walls; constructed of precast concrete, masonry, stone, or wood or of steel wide-flange, pipe, or tubular sections; they may be plain, fluted, or sculpted, with or without a capital and base. Columns may also be nonstructural, used for decorative or monumental purposes. See also intercolumniation, order.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 Archit. an upright cylindrical pillar often slightly tapering and usu. supporting an entablature or arch, or standing alone as a monument. 2 a structure or part shaped like a column. 3 a vertical cylindrical mass of liquid or vapour. 4 a a vertical division of a page, chart, etc., containing a sequence of figures or words. b the figures or words themselves. 5 a part of a newspaper regularly devoted to a particular subject (gossip column). 6 a Mil. an arrangement of troops in successive lines, with a narrow front. b Naut. a similar arrangement of ships. Phrases and idioms: column-inch a quantity of print (esp. newsprint) occupying a one-inch length of a column. dodge the column colloq. shirk one's duty; avoid work. Derivatives: columnar adj. columned adj. Etymology: ME f. OF columpne & L columna pillar

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Column Col"umn, n. [L. columna, fr. columen, culmen, fr. cellere (used only in comp.), akin to E. excel, and prob. to holm. See Holm, and cf. Colonel.] 1. (Arch.) A kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital. See Order. 2. Anything resembling, in form or position, a column in architecture; an upright body or mass; a shaft or obelisk; as, a column of air, of water, of mercury, etc.; the Column Vend[^o]me; the spinal column. 3. (Mil.) (a) A body of troops formed in ranks, one behind the other; -- contradistinguished from line. Compare Ploy, and Deploy. (b) A small army. 4. (Naut.) A number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in single or double file or in squadrons; -- in distinction from ``line'', where they are side by side. 5. (Print.) A perpendicular set of lines, not extending across the page, and separated from other matter by a rule or blank space; as, a column in a newspaper. 6. (Arith.) A perpendicular line of figures. 7. (Bot.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids. Attached column. See under Attach, v. t. Clustered column. See under Cluster, v. t. Column rule, a thin strip of brass separating columns of type in the form, and making a line between them in printing.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(columns) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A column is a tall, often decorated cylinder of stone which is built to honour someone or forms part of a building. ...a London landmark, Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. = pillar N-COUNT 2. A column is something that has a tall narrow shape. The explosion sent a column of smoke thousands of feet into the air. N-COUNT: usu N of n 3. A column is a group of people or animals which moves in a long line. There were reports of columns of military vehicles appearing on the streets. N-COUNT: usu N of n 4. On a printed page such as a page of a dictionary, newspaper, or printed chart, a column is one of two or more vertical sections which are read downwards. We had stupidly been looking at the wrong column of figures... N-COUNT 5. In a newspaper or magazine, a column is a section that is always written by the same person or is always about the same topic. She also writes a regular column for the Times Educational Supplement. N-COUNT: usu supp N 6. see also agony column, gossip column, personal column, spinal column, steering column

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Round pillar, rounded pillar. 2. File, line, row. 3. (Mil.) Array of less front than depth. 4. Cylindrical body, cylinder (as of water or mercury).

Moby Thesaurus

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