columna Latin · revision 6579

16 Oct 2026, 11:26 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *kelH-}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [kɔˈɫʊm.na]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koˈlum.na]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''columna''' ''f'' (genitive columnae); first declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It was originally a collateral form of [[columen]] “top, summit, pillar”, related to [[celsus]] “high” and [[excellō]], from the root [[ine-pro|*kelH-|t=to rise, be prominent]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline) Quintilian notes that the ⟨n⟩ was sometimes not written.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's first citations are from Plautus, of columns in buildings.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a column or pillar of a building, in the plural a portico, as in Martial, and figuratively a pillar or prop, as in Ennius.^(OLD 2012) It meant a pillar as a monument or a pedestal, as the ''columna Maenia'' in the Forum where offenders were tried, a post in a wine press, as in Cato, the drum of a water clock and a pit prop.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) The ''columnae Herculis'' were the Pillars of Hercules at the western edge of the world.^(OLD 2012) It also meant a waterspout and a pillar of fire, and vulgarly the penis.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In Medieval Latin it was a pillar, buttress or pier, and figuratively a support.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''colonna'' and French ''colonne''.^(Wiktionary) Through Old French ''colombe'' it is the source of [[en|column]] in the mid-15th century, and through Italian ''colonnella'' “little column” of [[en|colonel]] in the 1540s.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of columns.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it figuratively of a support.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions the ''columna Maenia''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * mid-15th century – English ''column'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|column]], [[m|en|pillar]], (plural) a portico.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(figurative)'' A prop, support.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A commemorative column; a pedestal.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A post (in a press or machine); a pit prop.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''columnae Herculis'', the Pillars of Hercules.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A waterspout; a pillar of fire.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[columella]]
+ * [[columnar]]
+ * [[columnāris]]
+ * [[columnātiō]]
+ * [[columnātus]]
+ * [[columnifer]]
+ * [[columnārium]]
+ * [[columnārius]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[columen]]
+ * [[culmen]]
+ * [[celsus]]
+ * [[en|column]]
+ * [[en|colonel]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}