colonna

Forms

colonna f (plural colonne)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin columna (“column, pillar”).^[2][3][4][1] Latin /mn/ became /nn/ in the standard form; northern Italy has forms with a palatal /ɲ/ such as ⟨cologna⟩, and central Italy forms with /nd/ such as ⟨colonda⟩.^[5]

The same word is Friulian colòne, Dalmatian kelóvna, Old French colombe, Catalan colona and Romanian corună (“base of a loom”); columna was taken again from Latin.^[3][5] The palatal type is also found in Spanish cureña (“gun carriage”), and the type with /nd/ in Old Occitan coronda.^[5]

The ancients connected the Latin word with columen (“top, summit”), a variant of culmen, and Nocentini sees no reason to reject the link;^[3][6] DEI also calls it probable.^[3][6] De Vaan finds it hard to derive the one from the other by any normal process; the word for “top” itself goes back to Proto-Italic *kelamen-.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a Pisan document of the first half of the 12th century, a ship's account with the plural colonne.^[8][2][5] The sense is the architectural one, a vertical support of round section.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Already in Old Italian the word was used figuratively for a person who supports a community or a faith, for the commemorative columns of the Roman emperors, for the pillar of fire of the Bible, and for the Pillars of Hercules (colonne d'Ercole).^[8] A column of fluid is recorded in the 14th century, the column of a page before 1566, and a vertical series of figures in 1585.^[2]

In the 17th century Raimondo Montecuccoli used colonna for a body of troops advancing on one route, which by 1941 had led to the sense of a line of people or vehicles.^[2] The anatomical sense appears in 1687, and colonna vertebrale in 1771.^[2] The derivative colonnello, first a body of soldiers (Milan, 1472), came to name its commander in the early 16th century.^[2]

Quinta colonna “fifth column” arose in the Spanish Civil War, in October 1936, for Franco's supporters inside Madrid, besides the four columns marching on the city; the phrase is said to be General Mola's.^[2]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – A Pisan document has the plural colonne.^[8][5]
• 13th century – The Laude use colonna for a support.^[2]
• 14th century – A translated Bible uses it for a column of fluid.^[2]
• Before 1566 – Annibal Caro uses it for a column of a page.^[2]
• Before 1680 – Raimondo Montecuccoli uses it for a column of troops.^[2]
• 1771 – Colonna vertebrale is recorded.^[2]
• 1936 – Quinta colonna arises in the Spanish Civil War.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (architecture) A column, pillar; a commemorative column: la colonna Traiana.^[4][1]
2. (figurative) A person who is the mainstay of a group: è la colonna della squadra.^[4]
3. A vertical mass of fluid: una colonna di fumo; a vertical tube that holds or carries fluids.^[4][2]
4. A vertical division of a page or table; a vertical series of figures.^[4][2][1]
5. (military) A column of troops; a line of people or vehicles, a tailback.^[2][1]
6. (anatomy) Colonna vertebrale, the spine.^[2][9]
7. (chess) A file.^[1]

Word family

• colonnare
• colonnato
• colonnello
• colonnina
• colonnino
• colonnista
• incolonnare
• intercolunnio
• colonnetta
• intercolonna
• semicolonna

Related words

• colmo
• Latin columna

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 q r Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 1172
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1019
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 310