Etymologically
Log in

colonne

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 18:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɔ.lɔn/[1]

Forms

colonne f (plural colonnes)[1] Columne (early 12th century), columpne (about 1170), colonne (early 13th century); colomne in the Académie in 1694 and 1718, colonne from 1740.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin columna (“pillar, column; support”),[3][2][5][4][1][6] probably related to columen (“summit”) and to the verb behind exceller.[3][7] Its form was influenced by Italian colonna.[3][4][8] The Old French inherited form was colombe (11th–15th centuries), which survives in “colombage” “half-timbering”[5][9][1]; Bloch and Wartburg explain it by an effort to keep the Latin “-mn-”.[5][9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter (early 12th century) has columne de nue, the pillar of cloud: something tall and vertical.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In architecture a colonne is a cylindrical support (Rois, about 1170) and a free-standing monument (Villehardouin, early 13th century).[2][3] Figuratively, from the 16th century, it is a support or pillar of a cause.[2][3]

By likeness of shape it came to name a vertical strip of text (before 1615), and so a newspaper column (1811), cinq colonnes à la une; a body of troops in long formation (1680), whence la cinquième colonne, a secret enemy within; and the backbone, colonne vertébrale (1797), which replaced colonne épinière.[2][3] Colonnade (1740) and colonnette (1546) are derived from it.[5]

Timeline

  • early 12th century – Columne de nue (Oxford Psalter).[2][3]
  • c. 1170 – A supporting pillar (Rois).[2]
  • early 13th century – A column-shaped monument (Villehardouin).[2][3]
  • before 1615 – A column of text (Pasquier).[2][3]
  • 1680 – A column of troops (Richelet).[2][3]
  • 1797 – Colonne vertébrale.[2][3]
  • 1811 – A newspaper column.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A column or pillar: colonne dorique; a commemorative column: la colonne Vendôme.[8][10]
  2. Colonne vertébrale: the spine, backbone.[2][8]
  3. A vertical strip of text or figures; a column in a newspaper or table.[1][8]
  4. A column of troops or vehicles in single file.[2][8]
  5. A column of smoke, water, air: colonne d'eau.[2][1]

Word family

  • colonnade
  • pseudo-colonne
  • colonnette

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 933a
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)