Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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6. (Arith.) A perpendicular line of figures.
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7. (Bot.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the
Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the
orchids.
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8. (Print.) one of a series of articles written in a
periodical, usually under the same title and at regular
intervals; it may be written and signed by one or more
authors, or may appear pseudonymously or anonymously, as
an editorial column. "Safire's weekly column On Language
in the New York Times is usually more interesting (and
probably more accurate) than his political column." --P.
Cassidy
[PJC]
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.
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column
n 1: a line of (usually military) 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: chromatographycolumn]
3: a linear array of numbers one above another
4: anything tall and thin approximating 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: tower, pillar]
5: an article giving opinions or perspectives [syn: editorial,
newspaper column]
6: a vertical structure standing alone and not supporting
anything (as a monument or a column of air) [syn: pillar]
7: (architeture) a tall cylindrical vertical upright and used
to support a structure [syn: pillar]
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