column

Ancient Egyptian columns in Philae (Egypt)

Meaning

Noun

  • A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.
  • A vertical line of entries in a table, usually read from top to bottom.
  • A body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road.
  • A body of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that has multiple adjacent such on a single page.
  • A unit of width, especially of advertisements, in a periodical, equivalent to the width of a usual column of text.
  • A recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece, especially by a single author or small rotating group of authors, or on a single theme.
  • Something having similar vertical form or structure to the things mentioned above, such as a spinal column.
  • The gynostemium
  • (chemistry) An object used to separate the different components of a liquid or to purify chemical compounds.

Related

Similar words

Opposite words

Broader meaning words

Origin

  • From Middle English columne, columpne, columpe, borrowed from Old French columne, from Latin columna ("a column, pillar, post"), originally a collateral form of columen, contraction culmen. Akin to Latin collis ("a hill"), celsus, probably to Ancient Greek κολοφών ("top, summit").

Modern English dictionary

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