colonne French · revision 15763

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=early 12th century, Oxford Psalter, columne|origins=la columna}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ.lɔn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''colonne''' ''f'' (plural colonnes)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Columne'' (early 12th century), ''columpne'' (about 1170), ''colonne'' (early 13th century); ''colomne'' in the Académie in 1694 and 1718, ''colonne'' from 1740.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|columna|t=pillar, column; support]],^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|2, 933a) probably related to [[m|la|columen|t=summit]] and to the verb behind [[exceller]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Its form was influenced by [[it|colonna]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Old French inherited form was [[m|fro|colombe]] (11th–15th centuries), which survives in “colombage” “half-timbering”^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary); Bloch and Wartburg explain it by an effort to keep the Latin “-mn-”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Oxford Psalter (early 12th century) has ''columne de nue'', the pillar of cloud: something tall and vertical.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In architecture a ''colonne'' is a cylindrical support (''Rois'', about 1170) and a free-standing monument (Villehardouin, early 13th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Figuratively, from the 16th century, it is a support or pillar of a cause.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ 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''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Colonnade'' (1740) and ''colonnette'' (1546) are derived from it.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 12th century – ''Columne de nue'' (Oxford Psalter).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1170 – A supporting pillar (''Rois'').^(TLFi)

+ * early 13th century – A column-shaped monument (Villehardouin).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * before 1615 – A column of text (Pasquier).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1680 – A column of troops (Richelet).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1797 – ''Colonne vertébrale''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1811 – A newspaper column.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|column]] or [[m|en|pillar]]: ''colonne dorique''; a commemorative column: ''la colonne Vendôme''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Colonne vertébrale'': the [[m|en|spine]], backbone.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A vertical strip of text or figures; a column in a newspaper or table.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A column of troops or vehicles in single file.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A column of smoke, water, air: ''colonne d'eau''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[colonnade]]

+ * [[pseudo-colonne]]

+ * [[colonnette]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[colombe]]

+ * [[colombage]]

+ * [[la|columna]]

+ * [[en|column]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}