column Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a line of units following one after another
  2. noun a vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form colored bands
    chromatography column.
  3. noun a vertical array of numbers or other information
    • he added a column of numbers
  4. noun anything that approximates the shape of a column or tower
    tower; pillar.
    • the test tube held a column of white powder
    • a tower of dust rose above the horizon
    • a thin pillar of smoke betrayed their campsite
  5. noun an article giving opinions or perspectives
    newspaper column; editorial.
  6. noun a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument)
    pillar.
  7. noun (architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure
    pillar.
  8. noun a page or text that is vertically divided
    • the newspaper devoted several columns to the subject
    • the bookkeeper used pages that were divided into columns
  9. noun any tubular or pillar-like supporting structure in the body

WordNet

Col"umn noun
Etymology
L. columna, fr. columen, culmen, fr. cellere (used only in comp.), akin to E. excel, and prob. to holm. See Holm, and cf. Colonel.
Definitions
  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.
  2. Anything resembling, in form or position, a column an 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.
  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.
  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.
  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.
  6. (Arith.) A perpendicular line of figures.
  7. (Bot.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids.

Webster 1913