Column rule

Column Col"umn, n. [L. columna, fr. columen, culmen, fr. cellere (used only in comp.), akin to E. excel, and prob. to holm. See {Holm}, and cf. {Colonel}.] 1. (Arch.) A kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital. See {Order}. [1913 Webster]

2. Anything resembling, in form or position, a column in architecture; an upright body or mass; a shaft or obelisk; as, a column of air, of water, of mercury, etc.; the Column Vend[^o]me; the spinal column. [1913 Webster]

3. (Mil.) (a) A body of troops formed in ranks, one behind the other; -- contradistinguished from {line}. Compare {Ploy}, and {Deploy}. (b) A small army. [1913 Webster]

4. (Naut.) A number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in single or double file or in squadrons; -- in distinction from ``line'', where they are side by side. [1913 Webster]

5. (Print.) A perpendicular set of lines, not extending across the page, and separated from other matter by a rule or blank space; as, a column in a newspaper. [1913 Webster]

6. (Arith.) A perpendicular line of figures. [1913 Webster]

7. (Bot.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids. [1913 Webster]

8. (Print.) one of a series of articles written in a periodical, usually under the same title and at regular intervals; it may be written and signed by one or more authors, or may appear pseudonymously or anonymously, as an editorial column. ``Safire's weekly column On Language in the New York Times is usually more interesting (and probably more accurate) than his political column.'' --P. Cassidy [PJC]

{Attached column}. See under {Attach}, v. t.

{Clustered column}. See under {Cluster}, v. t.

{Column rule}, a thin strip of brass separating columns of type in the form, and making a line between them in printing. [1913 Webster]