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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Column \Col"umn\, 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}.
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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 Vend[^o]me; the spinal column.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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6. (Arith.) A perpendicular line of figures.
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7. (Bot.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the
Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the
orchids.
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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 On Language
in the New York Times 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.
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