n.
Pronunciation: ' kä-l ə m- ˌ b ī n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin columbina, from Latin, feminine of columbinus like a dove, from columba dove; akin to Old High German holuntar elder tree, Greek kolymbos a small grebe, kelainos black
Date: 14th century
: any of a genus ( Aquilegia ) of plants of the buttercup family with irregular showy spurred flowers: as a : a red-flowered plant ( A. canadensis ) of eastern No. America b : a blue-flowered plant ( A. caerulea ) of the Rocky Mountains