# column

Pronunciation: US say "KOL-um" /ˈkɑləm/; UK say "KOL-uhm" /ˈkɒləm/

## Noun

1. A solid upright structure built to support something above it, such as a roof or beam, or sometimes added just for decoration.
   - Simple: A tall, upright post that holds up a roof, beam, or other part of a building.
   - _Cracks in the central column threatened the whole building._
   - _The architects spaced the columns evenly across the facade._
2. A vertical series of entries in a table, normally read downward from the top.
   - Simple: A line of items that runs from the top to the bottom of a table.
   - _She added up the numbers in the right-hand column._
   - _The spreadsheet's columns were misaligned after the import._
3. A block of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that places several side by side on a single page.
   - Simple: A narrow block of text that you read down the page, as in a newspaper.
   - _The magazine split each page into three columns of dense text._
   - _Her eye moved down the column, scanning each line in turn._
4. A regular feature in a newspaper or magazine, typically an opinion piece, written by one author or a small rotating group or devoted to a single subject.
   - Simple: A regular piece of writing in a newspaper or magazine, often giving one writer's opinions.
   - _The newspaper hired her to write a monthly column on travel._
   - _Readers wrote angry letters in response to his latest column._
5. A body of troops or army vehicles, usually stretched out in a line along a road.
   - Simple: A long line of soldiers or military vehicles moving along a road.
   - _The army's column stretched for miles along the dusty road._
   - _Enemy columns advanced toward the river before sunrise._
6. Something with an upright, pillar-like form or structure, such as the spinal column or a rising column of smoke.
   - Simple: A tall, upright thing shaped like a pillar, such as a backbone or a rising cloud of smoke.
   - _A column of hot air rose quickly above the desert floor._
   - _Injuries to the spinal column can affect the entire body._
7. The width of one standard text column, used to measure space in a newspaper or magazine, especially for advertisements.
   - Simple: A unit of width for ads in a newspaper, equal to how wide one block of text is.
   - _The newspaper charged advertisers by the column for page space._
   - _Her announcement filled three columns across the page._
8. A device used to separate a liquid into its component parts or to purify chemical compounds.
   - Simple: A tall tube used in science to separate the parts of a liquid or to clean chemical substances.
   - _The chemist ran the sample through a column to isolate the pigment._
   - _Separation columns are central to many laboratory purification methods._
9. The structure in an orchid flower formed by the fusion of the male and female reproductive organs; the gynostemium.
   - Simple: The part of an orchid flower that joins its male and female organs into one structure.
   - _Pollinators must contact the column to carry pollen between orchids._
   - _In this species, the column curves downward over the lip of the flower._

## Origin

From Middle English "columne," borrowed through Old French "columne" from Latin "columna" (a column, pillar, or post), originally a variant of "columen," contracted to "culmen" (a pillar, top, or summit). It is related to Latin "collis" (a hill) and "celsus" (high), and probably to Ancient Greek "kolophōn" (top, summit).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/column (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).