*colum*

‖n. pl.; [ L. columba pigeon. ] (Zool.) An order of birds, including the pigeons. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. L. Columbaria /plu> [ L. See Columbary. ] (Rom. Antiq.) (a) A dovecote or pigeon house. (b) A sepulchral chamber with niches for holding cinerary urns. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Columbaries [ L. columbarium, fr. columba a dove. ] A dovecote; a pigeon house. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. colombate. See Columbium. ] (Chem.) A salt of columbic acid; a niobate. See Columbium. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ From Kolumbatz, a mountain in Germany. ] (Zool.) See Buffalo fly, under Buffalo. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., dim. of L. columba a dove. So called from a fancied resemblance in color and form, of some species. ] (Zool.) A genus of univalve shells, abundant in tropical seas. Some species, as Columbella mercatoria, were formerly used as shell money. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. America; the United States; -- a poetical appellation given in honor of Columbus, the discoverer. Dr. T. Dwight. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Columbia the United States. ] (Mil.) A form of seacoast cannon; a long, chambered gun designed for throwing shot or shells with heavy charges of powder, at high angles of elevation. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Since the War of 1812 the Columbiad has been much modified, especially by General Rodman, and the improved form now used in seacoast defense is often called the Rodman gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Columbia. ] Of or pertaining to the United States, or to America. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Columbium. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or containing, columbium or niobium; niobic. [ 1913 Webster ]

Columbic acid (Chem.), a weak acid derived from columbic or niobic oxide, Nb2O5; -- called also niobic acid. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Columbo. ] Pertaining to, or derived from, the columbo root. [ 1913 Webster ]

Columbic acid (Chem.), an organic acid extracted from the columbo root as a bitter, yellow, amorphous substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Colombier. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Columbium + -ferous. ] Producing or containing columbium. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) A white, crystalline, bitter substance. See Calumbin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. columbinus, fr. columba dove. ] Of or pertaining to a dove; dovelike; dove-colored. “Columbine innocency.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. columbina, L. columbinus dovelike, fr. columba dove: cf. F. colombine. Perh. so called from the beaklike spurs of its flowers. ] 1. (Bot.) A plant of several species of the genus Aquilegia; as, Aquilegia vulgaris, or the common garden columbine; Aquilegia Canadensis, the wild red columbine of North America. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The mistress or sweetheart of Harlequin in pantomimes. Brewer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. colombite. See Columbium. ] (Min.) A mineral of a black color, submetallic luster, and high specific specific gravity. It is a niobate (or columbate) of iron and manganese, containing tantalate of iron; -- first found in New England. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL., fr. Columbia America. ] (Chem.) A rare element of the vanadium group, first found in a variety of the mineral columbite occurring in Connecticut, probably at Haddam. Atomic weight 94.2. Symbol Cb or Nb. Now more commonly called niobium. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) See Calumba. [ 1913 Webster ]

The 12th day of October, on which day in 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered America, landing on one of the Bahama Islands (probably the one now commonly called Watling Island), and naming it “San Salvador”; -- called also Discovery Day. This day is made a legal holiday in many States of The United States. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L., dim. of columen column. See Column. ] 1. (Bot.) (a) An axis to which a carpel of a compound pistil may be attached, as in the case of the geranium; or which is left when a pod opens. (b)A columnlike axis in the capsules of mosses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) A term applied to various columnlike parts; as, the columella, or epipterygoid bone, in the skull of many lizards; the columella of the ear, the bony or cartilaginous rod connecting the tympanic membrane with the internal ear. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) (a) The upright pillar in the axis of most univalve shells. (b) The central pillar or axis of the calicles of certain corals. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Columella + -form. ] Shaped like a little column, or columella. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. columna, fr. columen, culmen, fr. cellere (used only in comp.), akin to E. excel, and prob. to holm. See Holm, and cf. Colonel. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 newspaper. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Arith.) A perpendicular line of figures. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Bot.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Print.) one of a series of articles written in a periodical, usually under the same title and at regular intervals; it may be written and signed by one or more authors, or may appear pseudonymously or anonymously, as an editorial column. “Safire's weekly column in the is usually more interesting (and probably more accurate) than his political column.” P. Cassidy [ PJC ]

Attached column. See under Attach, v. t. --
Clustered column. See under Cluster, v. t. --
Column rule, a thin strip of brass separating columns of type in the form, and making a line between them in printing. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. columnaris, fr. columna. ] Formed in columns; having the form of a column or columns; like the shaft of a column. [ 1913 Webster ]

Columnar epithelium (Anat.), epithelium in which the cells are prismatic in form, and set upright on the surface they cover. --
Columnar structure (Geol.), a structure consisting of more or less regular columns, usually six-sided, but sometimes with eight or more sides. The columns are often fractured transversely, with a cup joint, showing a concave surface above. This structure is characteristic of certain igneous rocks, as basalt, and is due to contraction in cooling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being columnar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having columns; as, columnated temples. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having columns. [ 1913 Webster ]

Troas and Ilion's columned citadel. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The employment or arrangement of columns in a structure. Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a journalist who writes or edits a regularly scheduled column{ 8 } in a periodical, usually in editorial style; a type of editorialist. [ RP ]

fifth columnist see fifth columnist in the vocabulary.

n. [ from a statement during the Spanish Civil War (1936) that the Falange had four columns of soldiers marching on the city, and a fifth column “already there” (i.e. sympathizers inside the Republican lines). ] 1. a group of persons inside the battle lines of a territory engaged in a conflict, who secretly sympathize with the enemy, and who engage in espionage or sabotage; -- sometimes also referred to as a trojan horse. [ RP ]

2. Hence, any faction of persons within a group who secretly sympathize with an enemy, especially those who engage in activities harmful to the group; an enemy in one's midst; a group of traitors. [ RP ]

n. [ L. incolumitas, fr. incolumis uninjured, safe; perh. fr. in intens. + (doubtful) columis safe. ] Safety; security. [ Obs. ] Howell. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Between columns or pillars; as, the intercolumnar fibers of Poupart's ligament; an intercolumnar statue. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) The clear space between two columns, measured at the bottom of their shafts. Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is customary to measure the intercolumniation in terms of the diameter of the shaft, taken also at the bottom. Different words, derived from the Greek, are in use to denote certain common proportions. They are: Pycnostyle, when the intercolumniation is of one and a half diameters; Systyle, of two diameters; Eustyle, of two and a quarter diameters; Diastyle, of three diameters; Aræostyle, of four or more, and so great that a wooden architrave has to be used instead of stone; Aræosystyle, when the intercolumniations are alternately systyle and aræostyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Itacolumi, a mountain of Brazil. ] (Min.) A laminated, granular, siliceous rocks, often occurring in regions where the diamond is found. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. (Arch.) not having columns. [ Narrower terms: astylar; unpillared ] columned
Syn. -- uncolumned. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A half column; a column bisected longitudinally, or along its axis. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a semicolumn; flat on one side and round on the other; imperfectly columnar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Geol.) Having an imperfect or interrupted columnar structure. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) The putting of one order above another; also, an architectural work produced by this method; as, the putting of the Doric order in the ground story, Ionic above it, and Corinthian or Composite above this. [ 1913 Webster ]