columnn.
/ˈkɒləm/, U.S. /ˈkɑləm/ 1.
a. Architecture. A cylindrical or slightly tapering body of considerably greater length than diameter, erected vertically as a support for some part of a building; spec. in the classic orders, a round pillar with base, shaft, and capital supporting the entablature; in Gothic and Norman architecture applied to the pillar or pier supporting the arch. Sometimes standing alone as a monument: e.g. Trajan's Column at Rome, Nelson's Column in London, the Column of the Place Vendôme, Paris.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > column > [noun]
filiolec1400
column1481
society > communication > record > memorial or monument > [noun] > structure or erection > stone > column, pillar, or obelisk
needlea1387
obelisk1561
column1606
guglioc1660
cippus1667
aiguille1686
broach1715
lat1801
nuraghe1828
peulvan1841
shaft1847
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde iii. xi. 158 In thyse grete colompnes or pylers..were grauen the vii scyences.
1563 J. Shute First Groundes Archit. sig. Bii Wel practised in their measures of.. their Columes.
1592 R. Dallington tr. F. Colonna Hypnerotomachia f. 40v In euerry corner stoode a Chorinthian Collumne.
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 35 They erected in the Forum a solide Columne [margin or Piller] almost 20. foote high, of Numidian Marble.
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1651) 225 Pillars, which we may likewise call Columnes (for the word among Artificers is almost naturalised).
1662 B. Gerbier Brief Disc. Princ. Building 4 The Orders of Colombs.
1712 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 351 The Colum erected in Memory of the Dreadfull Fire of London.
1733 A. Pope Of Use of Riches 17 Where London's Column pointing at the skies Like a tall..Bully, lifts the head, and lyes.
1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain iii. xxi. 162 Where the shatter'd columns lie, Shewing Carthage once had been.
a1878 G. G. Scott Lect. Mediæval Archit. (1879) I. 148 In no feature is the difference between Classic and Gothic architecture so strongly marked as in the column.
b. A natural columnar formation, esp. of igneous rock.
ΚΠ
1775 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 65 i. 5 Two groups of prismatic basaltine columns.
1871 C. Lyell Student's Elem. Geol. (1885) 470 The columns [of basalt] are sometimes straight, at others curiously curved and twisted.
1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. (1885) 493 In the more perfectly columnar basalts, the columns are sometimes articulated.
c. figurative. Support or prop. (cf. pillar n.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > [noun] > that which or one who supports
crutchc900
upholda1066
uptakinga1300
arma1382
postc1387
staff1390
sustainerc1390
undersetterc1400
potent?a1439
buttressa1450
supportalc1450
comfort1455
supporta1456
studa1500
poge1525
underpropper1532
shore1534
staya1542
prop1562
stoopa1572
underprop1579
sustentation1585
rest1590
underpinning1590
supportance1597
sustinent1603
lean1610
reliance1613
hingea1616
columna1620
spar1630
gable end1788
lifeboat1832
standback1915
a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. vii. §6. 273 Monarchies which were the highest Columnes of Maiestie vpon the Earth.
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. iv. 963 Now from my fond embrace by tempests torn, Our other column of the state is born.
1862 F. D. Maurice Mod. Philos. ix. §25. 548 He did not require a religion to be the column of society.
d. Anything of columnar shape or appearance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [noun] > cylindrical object > upright cylinder
pilaster1589
column1591
1591 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso vi. lxxi. 46 Collons of diamonds as may be guest.
1673 N. Grew Idea Phytol. Hist. ii. iii. 76 In others they [sc. vessels] stand not so much in pricks, as portions or Columns, as in Cumfry.
1673 N. Grew Idea Phytol. Hist. ii. iii. 77 Sometimes Columns and Chords are compounded, as in Burnet.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 5 Who, moving, cast the coverlet aside, And bared the knotted column of his throat.
2.
a. Calico-printing. A hollow copper cylinder used for fixing the colours of printed fabrics by means of steam.
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1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) I. 652 [Calico-printing] The lower end of the column terminates in a pipe, mounted with a stopcock for regulating the admission of steam..The pieces [of calico] are lapped round this column, but not in immediate contact with it.
b. Distilling. A vessel containing a vertical series of chambers, used in continuous distillation.
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1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 55 [Distillation] The vapours from B rise through the distillatory column C, and D the rectificatory column.
3. transferred. An upright mass of water, air, mercury, etc., resembling a column in shape; a narrow mass rising high in the air, as a column of smoke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > vertical position > [noun] > vertical mass
column1671
colon1766
the world > space > shape > curvature > curved three-dimensional shape or body > cylinder > [noun] > cylindrical object > upright cylinder > upright cylindrical mass
column1671
colon1766
1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 27 As in a fiery column charioting His Godlike presence. View more context for this quotation
1692 R. Bentley Boyle Lect. iv. 23 The whole weight of any Column of the Atmosphere.
1715 J. T. Desaguliers tr. N. Gauger Fires Improv'd 50 There are..two Columns in the Chimney, one of rising Smoak, and the other of descending Air.
1733 A. Pope Of Use of Riches 13 The waters..Not to the skies in useless columns tost.
1832 D. Brewster Lett. Nat. Magic viii. 183 Production of musical sounds by the vibrations of a column of air in a pipe.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 90 The downward pressure of the column of mercury in the tube.
4. One of the narrow divisions of a sheet of paper, page of a book, etc., formed by vertical lines or separating spaces; used for denominations of figures (as in money accounts), lists of names in a schedule, etc., or for the sake of convenience in arranging the printed matter on a wide page; also, a narrow block of letterpress so arranged, or a series of letters or figures arranged vertically. In plural said esp. of the vertical divisions in a newspaper or journal, as receptacles for the news, etc., which ‘fill the columns’ of these publications. Hence in extended use: a special feature, esp. one of a regular series of articles or reports. Cf. gossip column n. at gossip n. Compounds 2. In the U.S. sometimes with the jocular spelling colyum n. /ˈkɒljəm/
/ˈkɒljəm/ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written text > layout > [noun] > narrow, vertical division of paper or page
columnc1440
columela1661
society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > column
columnc1440
pillar1557
columela1661
col1903
society > communication > book > leaves or pages of book > [noun] > page > narrow division of page
columnc1440
reglet1577
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [noun] > column
column1785
society > communication > journalism > journal > matter of or for journals > [noun] > column
column1926
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > essay > [noun] > article
piece1533
article1701
column1926
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 88 Columne of a lefe [Pynson of a boke], columna.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises i. ii. f. 3 I adde the 2.l. to the Collum of pounds.
1599 F. Thynne Animaduersions (1875) 6 His editione..beinge fyrst printed but in one coolume in a page.
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. xx. 229 A little paper book, made for that purpose, with sundry columnes in each page.
1647 N. Nye Art of Gunnery i. 88 Look in the second Table, and in the Collume of 3 pound.
1706 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 14 Mar. (O.H.S.) I. 204 He..is resolv'd to print..in columns.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. ii. 21 I wrote down a great Number of Words in Columns.
1785 Daily Universal Reg. 1 Jan. 4/1 Have they [sc. newspapers] not frequently, in half a column, given us the state of all nations?
1824 J. Johnson Typographia I. 370 The volume is printed in black-letter, in double columns.
1832 Act 2 & 3 William IV c. 64 §26 The respective counties..mentioned in the fourth column of the said schedule.
1870 M. Bridgman Robert Lynne II. iv. 83 ‘C. S. was earnestly entreated to return to his wife,’..in the second column of the Times.
1881 W. S. Burnside & A. W. Panton Theory of Equations 224 Any series [of constituents] such as a1,b1,c1..l1, arranged vertically, form a column [of the determinant].
1914 Dial. Notes 4 104 Colyum, column.
1926 H. W. Davis Column i. 3 The most important development on America's editorial pages during the past quarter of a century has been the evolution of the ‘colyum’.
1926 H. W. Davis Column i. 4 The column may be a good light essay broken up by two-em dashes.
1931 R. Campbell Georgiad ii. 36 Then through my weekly columns I may pour The sentiments that dowagers adore.
1932 E. V. Lucas Reading, Writing & Remembering v. 108 Michael Temple, who had charge of the ‘Men and Matters’ column.
1937 W. S. Maugham Theatre xxiii. 221 The Press representative came up and told Michael he thought he'd given the reporters enough for a column.
1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 247 The column this week is difficult.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printed matter > printed character(s) > [noun] > square bracket
crooks1641
column1658
crotchet1676
1658 Collection of Offices C. Omitting so much of either as is included in the columnes.
1667 Bp. J. Taylor 2nd Pt. Dissuasive from Popery ii. iii. 79 These words..make a distinct quotation, and ought by the Printer to have been divided by a colume.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of windows > [noun] > pane > in mullioned window
day1348
pane1466
columna1697
a1697 Aubrey MS. Life R. Kettel in H. G. Woods Religio Loci (1888) 12 The windows of the Chapel..were good Gothique painting, in every column a figure.
7. Botany.
a. The upright cylindrical structure formed by the coalescence of the filaments, as in the mallow, or by the union of the stamens with the style, as in orchids.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [noun] > parts of > stamen or pistil > style or pistil and related parts
chire1398
chithe1398
chyde?a1500
chive1535
clapper1578
dodkin1578
pestle1597
pointel1597
umbone1633
style1682
pistillum1703
pistil1717
stylet1720
stylus1729
column1807
gynobase1830
gynaeceum1832
stylopodium1832
stylopod1849
gynostegium1880
pistillode1904
columna-
1682 N. Grew Anat. Plants iv. ii. iii. 169 The Attire..not consisting of several little Thecæ, upon so many Pedicils, as is described; but is all one entire Part, like a thick Columna in the midst of the Flower.]
1807 J. E. Smith Introd. Physiol. & Systematical Bot. 460 The style of the Orchideæ has been called a column.
1830 J. Lindley Outl. Princ. Bot. 59.
1872 D. Oliver Lessons Elem. Bot. (new ed.) ii. 264 The adherent anther, together with the rostellum and stigma, constitute the column of the Orchis flower.
b. = columella n. 3a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > [noun] > parts of > core
colk1340
core1398
corkc1440
crokec1450
columella1760
column1776
columel1828
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants II. 824 A capsule cut open horizontally to shew..the column in the Center, to which the partitions are connected.
1800 J. Hull Elements Bot. I. 73 Column. A centre body extending from the bottom of the case to the top of the lid.
1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 234 Seeds 1–2 in each cell, attached to the central column.
8. Anatomy and Physiology. A name given to various parts of the body (usually translating Latin columna); e.g. ‘fleshy columns of the heart’ (columnæ carneæ), ‘column of the nose’ (columna nasi, the anterior part of the septum); esp. spinal column or vertebral column, the spine; and with qualifying phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > physical arrangement or condition > [noun] > arrangement in line or column
columel1610
linea1611
columna1785
ribbon1803
column1828
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > spine > [noun]
ridgeeOE
ridge boneOE
backbonea1300
chinec1300
rigbonec1400
spinac1400
spinec1400
spine-bonec1400
chine-bone?1533
vertebre1578
vertebre1623
vertebrasa1632
rachis1693
vertebres1696
vertebra1791
vertebral column1828
spinal column1866
1828 R. Knox tr. H. Cloquet Syst. Human Anat. 745 Before the vertebral column [Fr. la colonne vertébrale].
1866 T. H. Huxley Lessons Elem. Physiol. (1872) xi. 261 Along the spinal column..the spinal nerves give off branches.
1885 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 34/2 This is termed the ‘posterior vesicular column’, or ‘Clarke's column’, after the late Mr. Lockhart Clarke, who did much to unravel the intricate anatomy of the nerve-centres.
1906 Practitioner Dec. 844 The columns of Morgagni are permanent vertical folds of the mucous membrane of the anal canal.
1907 Practitioner June 859 The postero-lateral column of Burdach.
1907 Practitioner June 859 The postero-mesial column of Goll.
9. Zoology.
a. The body or stem of a sea-anemone.
ΚΠ
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 239 (Sea anemone). At the limbus the base passes into the wall or column, which is naturally more or less straight.
Categories »
b. The jointed peduncle of a stalked crinoid.
10.
a. Military. A formation of troops narrow laterally and deep from front to rear; the usual order in marching.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military operations > distribution of troops > formation > [noun] > column
narrow front1623
column1677
colonne1678
column of route1792
1677 Earl of Orrery Treat. Art of War 69 I would march my Army in two or three several Bodies divers wayes, which the French call Columes, but we, and I think more properly, Lines.
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. (at cited word) To march in a Column, is to march a great depth, or in a long File, instead of making a large Front.
1830 E. S. N. Campbell Dict. Mil. Sci. 40 In the close column the companies of a Battalion are formed in rear of each other at a distance of Two paces.
1830 E. S. N. Campbell Dict. Mil. Sci. 40 The Open Column occupies the same extent of ground as when in Line, minus the front of the leading division.
1881 G. A. Henty Cornet of Horse (1888) xvi. 165 He [Marlborough] formed in a conspicuous position, a heavy column of attack, opposite the French left.
b. column of route: see route n.1 Phrases 1.
c. transferred. A body or party; = camp n.2 8a originally and chiefly U.S.
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > a party > [noun]
partc1385
livery1477
faction1509
partialitya1533
side1566
party1682
set1748
democracy1803
machine party1858
column1906
MNLF1975
1906 Forum Apr. 448 The resulting dissatisfaction would be sufficient to throw Michigan..and possibly one or two other States into the Democratic column.
1931 G. T. Clark Leland Stanford iv. 95 California, by a narrow margin, swung into the Republican column.
1958 Spectator 22 Aug. 241/1 The public..is unsophisticated to a high degree, and a strong indication is supplied in its slow but undeniable shift back into the Conservative column.
d. Colloquial phrase to dodge the column, to shirk one's duty; to avoid work.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from action [verb (intransitive)] > avoid > avoid duty, work, or exertion
feignc1300
lurk1551
slug1642
skulk1781
malinger1820
mike1838
shirk1853
slinker1880
scrimshank1882
pike1889
scow1901
spruce1916
to swing the lead1917
bludge1919
to dodge the column1919
skive1919
to screw off1943
to do a never1946
to fuck off1946
to dick off1948
1919 War Terms in Athenæum 1 Aug. 695/2 ‘To dodge the column’ is to shirk one's duty.
1942 Penguin New Writing 15 29 The corporal said: ‘Dodging the column again, eh?’
1955 H. Spring These Lovers fled Away 5 My father, so great an expert in dodging any column he didn't see the point of joining.
11. Nautical. A body or division of ships.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > navy > a naval force or fleet > [noun] > formations of ships
battalia1613
line of battle1695
line1704
column1805
open order1805
1805 in Ld. Nelson Dispatches & Lett. (1846) VII. 166 note Fleet formed in order of sailing in two columns, the van led by the Victory Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson.
1874 F. G. D. Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. i. 18 A Column means any number of ships in a distinct group, whether in line ahead, abreast, or otherwise.
1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 113 Columns of Division or Sub-division..denote that the ships composing a fleet are formed in divisions or sub-divisions.
Compounds
C1. column-encircled, column-like, column-scattering adjs., column-wise adv.
ΚΠ
1799 R. Southey Eng. Eclogues in Poems II. vi Yon holly-hock..lifting, column-like, a stem Bright with its roseate blossoms.
1812 Ld. Byron Childe Harold: Cantos I & II i. liv. 35 The column-scattering bay'net.
1823 J. Bentham Let. 17 Feb. in Corr. (2000) XI. 207 English and Greek shall be printed column-wise.
1835 N. P. Willis Pencillings I. xii. 90 The whole area of the column-encircled front.
C2.
column-inch n. one inch of a newspaper column.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > parts and layout of journals > [noun] > unit of space
square1800
column-inch1940
1940 S. Lewis Bethel Merriday iv. 43 Advertising-column-inches in trade journals.
1960 F. Raphael Limits of Love i. vii. 94 That's not the picture you get from the Press... The number of column inches ——.
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column-lathe n. a lathe fixed on a vertical extensible post, used by dentists and watchmakers.
column man (a) see quot. 1899; (b) plural, troops marching in column.
ΚΠ
1898 Daily News 1 Aug. 5/6 He bade the column-men give him space to pass.
1899 Daily News 6 Mar. 8/5 Sir Edward Grey sprang, upon the Fashoda crisis, into ‘a column man’, otherwise he is a 200-word speaker.
Categories »
column-rule n. Printing a thin piece of brass (‘rule’) used to separate columns of type (Simmonds Dict. Trade 1858).
columns of Morgagni n. see Morgagni n.
Draft additions January 2011
Mathematics. A vertical line of numbers or other quantities in a square or rectangular array such as a determinant or matrix. Cf. row n.1 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > array > matrix > element or quality of
column1846
skew-symmetry1927
entry1928
off-diagonal1932
similarity class1952
1846 Cambr. & Dublin Math. Jrnl. 1 162 The figures occur in the same order; and the same holds of the other columns.
1850 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 37 369 We..commence..with an oblong arrangement of terms consisting, suppose, of m lines and n columns. This will not in itself represent a determinant, but is, as it were, a Matrix out of which we may form various systems of determinants.
1867 C. L. Dodgson Elem. Treat. Determinants ii. 6 If mn quantities be so placed as to form m rows and n columns: they are said to form a Block; and the mn quantities are called the Elements of such a Block.
1897 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 19 99 The square A is magic because each row, column, and diagonal has the same sum, 175.
1947 S. A. Stigant Mod. Electr. Engin. Math. iv. 72 A matrix is post-multiplied by another when its rows multiply the columns of the multiplying matrix.
1968 E. T. Copson Metric Spaces viii. 112 A is the square matrix with ar,s in its rth row and sth column.
2006 A. Ash & R. Gross Fearless Symmetry x. 123 A matrix of these n entries satisfying the condition that no row and no column contains the same Latin or the same Greek letter twice is called a Graeco-Latin Square.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
columnv.
/ˈkɒləm/, U.S. /ˈkɑləm/ intransitive. To form or move in column.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 126 When one by one, Pride, love, and jealousy, and fifty more Great feelings column up to force a heart, And all are beaten back.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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