Columns

How to spell columns

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce columns

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does columns mean?

1. nounUpright supporting pillars, or vertical divisions of text, numbers, or data arranged on a page or screen.

Columns in a sentence

• The ancient temple was held up by rows of marble columns.

• She lined up the figures in neat columns before adding them.

Where does columns come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin columna, meaning 'pillar' or 'column', which was closely related to columen, a word for the top, ridge, or highest point of something. The underlying idea is of an upright support that holds a structure up, so the earliest sense was firmly architectural. English took the word in during the 1400s, partly through Old French colompne, and over the centuries the meaning branched outward: from stone pillars to the vertical bands of text on a printed page, to a regular newspaper feature, and to the upright divisions of a table or spreadsheet. The spelling trap is that final silent 'n': Latin columna had a fully pronounced 'n', but in English the 'n' fell silent at the end of the singular while staying firmly in the spelling, and the plural simply adds 's' after that unspoken letter. The same Latin root also gives us 'colonnade', a row of columns, where the 'n' is happily pronounced again.

How the word is built

• column (from Latin columna: pillar)
• -s (plural)