Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Column
Col′umn
,Noun.
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
Vendôme; 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 newspaper6.
(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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Column
COLUMN
, n.1.
In architecture, a long round body of wood or stone, used to support or adorn a building, composed of a base, a shaft and a capital. The shaft tapers from the base, in imitation of the stem of a tree. There are five kinds or orders of columns. 1. The Tuscan, rude, simple and massy; the highth of which is fourteen semidiameters or modules, and the diminution at the top from one sixth to one eighth of the inferior diameter. 2. The Doric, which is next in strength to the Tuscan, has a robust, masculine aspect; its highth is sixteen modules. 3. The Ionic is more slender than the Tuscan and Doric; its highth is eighteen modules. 4. The Corinthian is more delicate in its form and proportions, and enriched with ornaments; its highth should be twenty modules. 5. The Composite is a species of the Corinthian, and of the same highth.In strictness, the shaft of a column consists of one entire piece; but it is often composed of different pieces, so united, as to have the appearance of one entire piece. It differs in this respect from a pillar, which primarily signifies a pile, composed of small pieces. But the two things are unfortunately confounded; and a column consisting of a single piece of timber is absurdly called a pillar or pile.
2.
An erect or elevated structure resembling a column in architecture; as the astronomical column at Paris, a kind of hollow tower with a spiral ascent to the top; gnomonic column, a cylinder on which the hour of the day is indicated by the shadow of a style; military column, among the Romans; triumphal column; &c.3.
Any body pressing perpendicularly on its base, and of the same diameter as its base; as a column of water, air or mercury.4.
In the military art, a large body of troops drawn up in order; as a solid column.5.
Among printers, a division of a page; a perpendicular set of lines separated from another set by a line or blank space. In manuscript books and papers, any separate perpendicular line or row of words or figures. A page may contain two or more columns; and in arithmetic, many columns of figures may be added.Definition 2024
column
column
English
Columns in temple of Bel, Syria
Columns in typography
Noun
column (plural columns)
- (architecture) A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.
- A vertical line of entries in a table, usually read from top to bottom.
- A body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road.
- A body of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that has multiple adjacent such on a single page.
- It was too hard to read the text across the whole page, so I split it into two columns.
- A unit of width, especially of advertisements, in a periodical, equivalent to the width of a usual column of text.
- Each column inch costs $300 a week; this ad is four columns by three inches, so will run $3600 a week.
- (by extension) A recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece, especially by a single author or small rotating group of authors, or on a single theme.
- His initial foray into print media was as the author of a weekly column in his elementary-school newspaper.
- Something having similar vertical form or structure to the things mentioned above, such as a spinal column.
- 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:
- The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.
-
- (botany) The gynostemium
- (chemistry) An object used to separate the different components of a liquid or to purify chemical compounds.
Derived terms
- nanocolumn
- supercolumn
Synonyms
Antonyms
- (line of table entries): row (which is horizontal)
Hypernyms
- (upright structure): beam
Translations
upright supporting member
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vertical line of entries in a table
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a vertical body of text
column of troops
newspaper column
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something having similar form or structure to the things mentioned above
chemistry : object to separate components