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Synonyms of column

file, queue, rank, row, string, tier, article, brace, formation, line, monolith, obelisk

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7 dictionary results for: column

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

col·umn

[kol-uh

m] Pronunciation Key

–noun

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.

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.

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.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME columne < L columna, equiv. to colum(e)n peak + -a fem. ending; akin to excel; r. late ME colompne < AF < L, as above

]

—Related forms

columned

[kol-uh

md] Pronunciation Key, col·um·nat·ed

[kol-uh

m-ney-tid] Pronunciation Key, 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, esp. one with an identifiable shaft, base, and capital: columns of the Corinthian order.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

col·umn (kŏl'əm) Pronunciation Key

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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.
1. 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.
2. 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.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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. Columnist dates from 1920. Literal, architectural sense is attested from 1481.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

column
noun
1.	a line of 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
3.	a vertical array of numbers or other information; "he added a column of numbers"
4.	anything that approximates 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"
5.	an article giving opinions or perspectives
6.	a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument)
7.	(architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure
8.	a page or text that is vertically divided; "the newspaper devoted several columns to the subject"; "the bookkeeper used pages that were divided into columns"
9.	any tubular or pillar-like supporting structure in the body

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

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)

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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