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column

 [kol-uhm]   Origin

col·umn

   [kol-uhm]
noun
1.
Architecture.
a.
a rigid, relatively slender, upright support, composed of relatively few pieces.
b.
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.
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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 (distinguished from line).
7.
a formation of ships in single file.
8.
Botany. a columnlike structure in an orchid flower, composed of the united stamens and style.
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Origin:
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

Related forms
col·umned  [kol-uhmd] , col·um·nat·ed  [kol-uhm-ney-tid] , adjective

Synonyms
1. 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Column is always a great word to know.
So is gable. Does it mean:
a supporting part of a structure; the area of contact between a supporting beam and other underlying support
the portion of the front or side of a building enclosed by or masking the end of a pitched roof
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Collins
World English Dictionary
column (ˈkɒləm)
 
—n
1.  an upright post or pillar usually having a cylindrical shaft, a base, and a capital
2.  a.  a form or structure in the shape of a column: a column of air
 b.  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
 a.  any of two or more vertical sections of type on a printed page, esp on a newspaper page
 b.  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
 
[C15: from Latin columna, from columen top, peak; related to Latin collis hill]
 
columnar
 
—adj
 
'columned
 
—adj
 
columnated
 
—adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

column
c.1440, "vertical division of a page," from O.Fr. colombe, from L. columna "pillar," collateral form of columen "top, summit," from PIE base *kel- "to project" (see hill). Sense of "matter written for a newspaper" dates from 1785. Literal, architectural sense is attested from 1481.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

column col·umn (kŏl'əm)
n.
Any of various tubular or pillarlike supporting structures in the body, such as the spinal column, each generally having a single tissue origin and function.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

column definition


1. A named slice through a database table that includes the same field of each row. For example, a telephone directory table might have a row for each person with a name column and a telephone number column.
2. A line of memory cells in a dynamic random-access memory, that is selected by a particular column address.
(2007-10-12)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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