COLUMN


Meaning of COLUMN in English

— columned /kol"euhmd/ , columnated /kol"euhm nay'tid/ , adj.

/kol"euhm/ , n.

1. Archit.

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.

5. 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. Bot. a columnlike structure in an orchid flower, composed of the united stamens and style.

[ 1400-50; late ME columne columna, equiv. to colum ( e ) n peak + -a fem. ending; akin to EXCEL; r. late ME colompne ]

Syn. 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.

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .