col·umn   (kŏl'əm)    (click for larger image in new window) n.   Architecture A supporting pillar consisting of a base, a cylindrical shaft, and a capital. Something resembling an architectural pillar in form or function: a column of mercury in a thermometer. Printing One of two or more vertical sections of typed lines lying side by side on a page and separated by a rule or a blank space. A feature article that appears regularly in a publication, such as a newspaper. A formation, as of troops or vehicles, in which all elements follow one behind the other. Botany A columnlike structure, especially one formed by the union of a stamen and the style in an orchid flower, or one formed by the united staminal filaments in flowers such as those of the hibiscus or mallow. Anatomy Any of various tubular or pillarlike supporting structures in the body, each generally having a single tissue origin and function: the vertebral column. [Middle English columne, from Latin columna; see kel-2 in Indo-European roots.] col'umned (kŏl'əmd) adj.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

6. (Arith.) A perpendicular line of figures.

7. (Bot.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids.

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.

column 

Main Entry: col·umn
Pronunciation: 'käl-&m
Function: noun
: a longitudinal subdivision of the spinal cord that resembles a column or pillar:as a : any of the principal longitudinal subdivisions of gray matter or white matter in each lateral half of the spinal cord —see DORSAL HORN, GRAY COLUMN, LATERAL COLUMN 1, VENTRAL HORN; —compareFUNICULUS a b : any of a number of smaller bundles of spinal nerve fibers : FASCICULUS

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.

column
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)