column

[ kol-uhm ]

noun

1. Architecture.
   1. a rigid, relatively slender, upright support, composed of relatively few pieces.
   2. a decorative pillar, most often composed of stone and typically having a cylindrical or polygonal shaft with a capital and usually a base.
2. any columnlike object, mass, or formation:

   a column of smoke.

3. a vertical row or list:

   Add this column of figures.

4. a vertical arrangement on a page of horizontal lines of type, usually typographically justified:

   There are three columns on this page.

5. a regular feature or series of articles in a newspaper, magazine, or the like, usually having a readily identifiable heading and the byline of the writer or editor, that reports or comments upon a particular field of interest, as politics, theater, or etiquette, or which may contain letters from readers, answers to readers' queries, etc.
6. a long, narrow formation of troops in which there are more members in line in the direction of movement than at right angles to the direction ( line ¹def 35 ).
7. a formation of ships in single file.
8. Botany. a columnlike structure in an orchid flower, composed of the united stamens and style.

column

/ ˈkɒləmˌneɪtɪd; ˈkɒləm; kəˈlʌmnə /

noun

1. an upright post or pillar usually having a cylindrical shaft, a base, and a capital
2. 1. a form or structure in the shape of a column

      a column of air

   2. a monument
3. a row, line, or file, as of people in a queue
4. military a narrow formation in which individuals or units follow one behind the other
5. journalism
   1. any of two or more vertical sections of type on a printed page, esp on a newspaper page
   2. a regular article or feature in a paper

      the fashion column

6. a vertical array of numbers or mathematical terms
7. botany a long structure in a flower, such as that of an orchid, consisting of the united stamens and style
8. anatomy zoology any elongated structure, such as a tract of grey matter in the spinal cord or the stalk of a crinoid

Derived Forms

• columnar, adjective
• ˈcolumned, adjective

Other Words From

• columned [kol, -, uh, md], col·um·nat·ed [kol, -, uh, m-ney-tid], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of column¹

1400–50; late Middle English columne < Latin columna, equivalent to colum ( e ) n peak + -a feminine ending; akin to excel; replacing late Middle English colompne < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of column¹

C15: from Latin columna, from columen top, peak; related to Latin collis hill

Synonym Study

Column, pillar refer to upright supports in architectural structures. Pillar is the general word: the pillars supporting the roof. A column is a particular kind of pillar, especially one with an identifiable shaft, base, and capital: columns of the Corinthian order.

Example Sentences

In an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal, the heads of the new Department of Government Efficiency said taxpayers shouldn’t pay federal employees “for the Covid-era privilege of staying home.”

From New York Times

Stories about him appeared almost daily in the New York Post gossip column Page Six.

From Salon

For more than 20 years Mr. Frommer also wrote a syndicated newspaper travel column and had a weekly syndicated radio show, originating from WOR in New York.

From New York Times

In his BBC Sport column, World Cup winner Matt Dawson explains why England should not be criticised for their endeavour and playing style, despite another defeat.

From BBC

The mystery mollusk is the first known nudibranch to live in a deep-water column, specifically in the ocean’s midnight zone — open water about 1,000 to 4,000 meters below the surface.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• file
• list