colon
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Latin cōlon (“a member of a verse of poem”), from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon, “a member, limb, clause, part of a verse”).
Noun
- The punctuation mark ⟨:⟩.
- 2005, William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, The Elements of Style, Penguin Press, page 15:
- A colon tells the reader that what follows is closely related to the preceding clause.
- (rare) The triangular colon (especially in context of not being able to type the actual triangular colon).
- (rhetoric) A rhetorical figure consisting of a clause which is grammatically, but not logically, complete.
- (palaeography) A clause or group of clauses written as a line, or taken as a standard of measure in ancient manuscripts or texts.
Synonyms
- (punctuation mark): colon-point (obsolete)
Derived terms
Translations
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See also
- apostrophe ( ' ) ( ’ )
- curly brackets or braces (US) ( { } )
- square brackets or brackets (US) ( [ ] )
- colon ( : )
- comma ( , )
- dashes ( ‒ ) ( – ) ( — ) ( ― )
- ellipsis ( … )
- exclamation mark ( ! )
- fraction slash ( ⁄ )
- guillemets ( « » ) ( ‹ › )
- hyphen ( - ) ( ‐ )
- interpunct ( · )
- interrobang (rare) ( ‽ )
- brackets or parentheses (US, Canada) ( ( ) )
- full stop or period (US, Canada) ( . )
- question mark ( ? )
- quotation marks (formal) ( ‘ ’ ‚ ) ( “ ” „ )
- quotation marks (informal, computing) ( " ) ( ' )
- semicolon ( ; )
- slash or stroke (UK) ( / )
- space ( ] [ )
Etymology 2
From Latin cŏlon (“large intestine”), from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon, “the large intestine, also food, meat, fodder”).
Noun
colon (plural colons or cola or coli)
- (anatomy) Part of the large intestine; the final segment of the digestive system, after (distal to) the ileum and before (proximal to) the rectum. (Because the colon is the largest part of the large intestine (constituting most of it), it is often treated as synonymous therewith in broad or casual usage.)
Holonyms
- (segment of digestive system): large intestine, large bowel
Derived terms
Translations
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Noun
colon (plural colons)
- (obsolete) A husbandman.
- A European colonial settler, especially in a French colony.
- 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 28:
- The reaction of the European colons, a mixture of shock and fear, was to demand further draconian measures and to suspend any suggestion of new reforms.
Alternative forms
Further reading
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050326041700/http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/Figures/C/colon.htm Part of a glossary of classical rhetorical terms.
- “colon”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “colon”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “colon”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “colon”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “colon”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
Catalan
Related terms
Noun
colon m (plural colons)
- (numismatics) colon (currency unit of Costa Rica, and formerly of El Salvador)
Further reading
- “colon” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Esperanto
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ.lɔ̃/
Noun
colon m (plural colons)
- colonist, colonizer
- settler (in a French colony)
- Laurent Lamoine, Le Pouvoir locale en Gaule romaine, 2009, 240.
- Sous les auspices du dictateur A. Cornelius Cossus, les Romains viennent de remporter une victoire sur leurs voisins Volsques, Latins et Herniques, associés aux colons romains en rébellion de Circéi et Vélitrae.
- Laurent Lamoine, Le Pouvoir locale en Gaule romaine, 2009, 240.
- camper (child in a colonie de vacances)
- José Casatéjada, Via Compostela: Des Monts du Velay à la Costa da Morte, 2015, 243.
- Une fois encore, ils me ramènant à mon enfance, aux colonies de vacances. Aves les autres petits colons, mes frères et moi trottions sur les chemins de traverse pour aller jouer dans les près ou à la rivière.
- José Casatéjada, Via Compostela: Des Monts du Velay à la Costa da Morte, 2015, 243.
- sharecropper in the system of colonat partiaire
- (vulgar, Canada) hillbilly, hick
Etymology 2
See côlon.
Further reading
- “colon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Etymology 3
Abbreviation of colonel.
Derived terms
- mon colon (interjection)
Italian
Etymology 1
Unadapted borrowing from Latin colon, from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkɔ.lon/
- Rhymes: -ɔlon
- Hyphenation: cò‧lon
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Unadapted borrowing from Latin cōlon, from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkɔ.lon/
- Rhymes: -ɔlon
- Hyphenation: cò‧lon
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /koˈlɔn/
- Rhymes: -ɔn
- Hyphenation: co‧lòn
Latin
Etymology 1
From Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈko.lon/, [ˈkɔɫ̪ɔn]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈko.lon/, [ˈkɔːlon]
Noun
colon n (genitive colī); second declension
- (anatomy) The colon; large intestine
- colic, a disease of the colon
Declension
Second-declension noun (neuter, Greek-type).
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | colon | cola |
Genitive | colī | colōrum |
Dative | colō | colīs |
Accusative | colon | cola |
Ablative | colō | colīs |
Vocative | colon | cola |
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkoː.lon/, [ˈkoːɫ̪ɔn]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈko.lon/, [ˈkɔːlon]
Declension
Second-declension noun (neuter, Greek-type).
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | cōlon | cōla |
Genitive | cōlī | cōlōrum |
Dative | cōlō | cōlīs |
Accusative | cōlon | cōla |
Ablative | cōlō | cōlīs |
Vocative | cōlon | cōla |
Synonyms
- (member of a verse): membrum
Descendants
- → English: colon
References
- “colon”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- colon in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- “colon”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
Romanian
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkolon/ [ˈko.lõn]
Audio (Colombia): (file) - Rhymes: -olon
- Syllabification: co‧lon
Etymology 1
From Latin cōlon, from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).
Etymology 2
From Latin cŏlon, from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).
Derived terms
Further reading
- “colon”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014