column
col·umn/ˈkɒləm/noun
column is spelled C-O-L-U-M-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (col·umn). It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, column means “A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of column is columns.
How many letters and syllables are in column?
| Letters | 6: C-O-L-U-M-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: col·umn |
| In writing | 21 times per million words; the 4,076th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is column?
Column appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,076th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce column?
- UK /ˈkɒləm/
- /ˈkɑləm/
- /ˈkɑljəm/
Column has 2 syllables, split col·umn in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-column.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-column.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of column
- columns plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does column mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.
- 2
A vertical line of entries in a table, usually read from top to bottom.
- 3
A body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road.
- 4
A body of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that has multiple adjacent such on a single page.
It was too hard to read the text across the whole page, so I split it into two columns.
- 5
A unit of width, especially of advertisements, in a periodical, equivalent to the width of a usual column of text.
Each column inch costs $300 a week; this ad is four columns by three inches, so will run $3600 a week.
- 6
A recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece, especially by a single author or small rotating group of authors, or on a single theme.
His initial foray into print media was as the author of a weekly column in his elementary-school newspaper.
- 7
Something having similar vertical form or structure to the things mentioned above, such as a spinal column.
- 8
The gynostemium.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate column?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of column: col, col..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Column in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | colonne |
| German | Säule , Spalte , Druckspalte, Kolumne , Kolonne |
| Portuguese | coluna |
| Spanish | columna, pilastra |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does column come from?
From Middle English columne, columpne, columpe, borrowed from Old French columne, from Latin columna (“a column, pillar, post”), originally a collateral form of columen, contraction culmen (“a pillar, top, crown, summit”). Akin to Latin collis (“a hill”), celsus (“high”), probably to Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn, “top, summit”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).