colophon

¹

[ kol-uh-fon, -fuhn ]

noun

1. a publisher's or printer's distinctive emblem, used as an identifying device on its books and other works.
2. an inscription at the end of a book or manuscript, used especially in the 15th and 16th centuries, giving the title or subject of the work, its author, the name of the printer or publisher, and the date and place of publication.

Colophon

²

[ kol-uh-fon ]

noun

1. an ancient city in Asia Minor: one of the 12 Ionian cities banded together in the 8th century b.c.: largely depopulated in 286 b.c.

colophon

/ -fən; ˈkɒləˌfɒn /

noun

1. a publisher's emblem on a book
2. (formerly) an inscription at the end of a book showing the title, printer, date, etc

Other Words From

• colo·phonic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of colophon¹

1615–25; < Latin < Greek kolophṓn summit, finishing touch

Word History and Origins

Origin of colophon¹

C17: via Late Latin, from Greek kolophōn a finishing stroke

Example Sentences

In the decades since, Vintage Contemporaries paperbacks issued between, say, 1984 and 1994 — with their super-glossy covers and bright white spines, their Philip Johnsonesque colophon, the too-bright color illustrations that at once give away everything inside the book and miss the point entirely — have become collectors’ items and fetish objects.

From New York Times

The differences between the editions, which begin with the colophon, include extended or altered scenes and three distinct endings.

From New York Times

On his watch, first as Knopf’s president and editor-in-chief, and since 2009 as chairman of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Mehta delivered literary quality and runaway sales, backed by clever promotion — he once invited 250 booksellers to a Los Angeles Dodgers game to launch a baseball book — that drew reviewers and booksellers to almost anything stamped with Knopf’s colophon: the leaping Borzoi wolfhound.

From Seattle Times

Back in March, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that Durant and Kyrie Irving—2016 NBA champion and modern-day Xenophanes of Colophon—“were like a middle school couple” during All-Star Weekend.

From Slate

“Marriage Vacation” was published earlier this month, by Simon & Schuster—though Millennial’s colophon appears on the spine, too.

From The New Yorker