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 ]

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 ]

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 ]