n. 1 Archit. an upright cylindrical pillar often slightly tapering and usu. supporting an entablature or arch, or standing alone as a monument. 2 a structure or part shaped like a column. 3 a vertical cylindrical mass of liquid or vapour. 4 a a vertical division of a page, chart, etc., containing a sequence of figures or words. b the figures or words themselves. 5 a part of a newspaper regularly devoted to a particular subject (gossip column). 6 a Mil. an arrangement of troops in successive lines, with a narrow front. b Naut. a similar arrangement of ships. Phrases and idioms column-inch a quantity of print (esp. newsprint) occupying a one-inch length of a column. dodge the column colloq. shirk one's duty; avoid work. Derivatives columnar adj. columned adj. Etymology: ME f. OF columpne & L columna pillar ...
Толковый словарь английского языка Oxford English Reference
noun Etymology: Middle English ~e, from Anglo-French columpne, from Latin ~a, from columen top; akin to Latin collis hill — more at hill Date: 15th century 1. a. a vertical arrangement of items printed or written on a page b. one of two or more vertical sections of a printed page separated by a rule or blank space c. an accumulation arranged vertically ; stack d. one in a usually regular series of newspaper or magazine articles gossip ~ 2. a supporting pillar; especially one consisting of a usually round shaft, a capital, and a base 3. a. something resembling a ~ in form, position, or function a ~ of water b. a tube or cylinder in which a chromatographic separation takes place 4. a long row (as of soldiers) 5. one of the vertical lines of elements of a determinant or matrix 6. a statistical category or grouping put another game in the win ~ • ~ed adjective ...
(columns) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A column is a tall, often decorated cylinder of stone which is built to honour someone or forms part of a building. ...a London landmark, Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. = pillar N-COUNT 2. A column is something that has a tall narrow shape. The explosion sent a column of smoke thousands of feet into the air. N-COUNT: usu N of n 3. A column is a group of people or animals which moves in a long line. There were reports of columns of military vehicles appearing on the streets. N-COUNT: usu N of n 4. On a printed page such as a page of a dictionary, newspaper, or printed chart, a column is one of two or more vertical sections which are read downwards. We had stupidly been looking at the wrong column of figures... N-COUNT 5. In a newspaper or magazine, a column is a section that is always written by the same person or is always about the same topic. She also writes a regular column for the Times Educational Supplement. N-COUNT: usu supp N 6. see also agony column, gossip column, personal column, spinal column, steering column ...
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
~ n 1 a tall, solid, upright, stone post used to support a building or as a decoration (a graceful Ionic column) 2 a long moving line of people or things (A long, winding column of soldiers marched through the streets.) 3 one of two or more lines of print that go down the page of a newspaper or book and that are separated from each other by a narrow space (Turn to Page 5, column 2.) 4 a line of numbers or words written under each other that goes down a page (Add up the numbers in each column separately.) 5 an article on a particular subject or by a particular writer that appears regularly in a newspaper or magazine (a weekly column | She writes the gardening column in the Express.) 6 something that has a long, thin shape, like a column + of (a column of smoke) (- see also fifth column, personal column, spinal 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." Sense of "matter written for a newspaper" dates from 1785. Columnist dates from 1920. ...