colon

See also: Colon, cólon, colón, còlon, côlon, and Colón

English

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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkəʊ.lən/, /ˈkəʊ.lɒn/
• (US) enPR: kō'lən, IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊ.lən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊlən

Noun

colon (plural colons or cola)

1. The punctuation mark "'".
   • 2005, William Strunk Jr. and 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.

2. (rare) The triangular colon (especially in context of not being able to type the actual triangular colon).
3. (rhetoric) A rhetorical figure consisting of a clause which is grammatically, but not logically, complete.
4. (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

• colon-point
• semicolon (semi-colon)

Translations

punctuation mark

• Albanian: dy pika
• Arabic: نُقْطَة مُزْدَوِجَة‎ f (nuqṭa muzdawija), (dual) نُقْطَتَان‎ f (nuqṭatān)
• Asturian: dos puntos (ast) m pl
• Azerbaijani: iki nöqtə
• Bashkir: ике нөктә (ike nöktä)
• Belarusian: двукро́п'е n (dvukrópʺje)
• Bulgarian: двоето́чие (bg) n (dvoetóčie)
• Catalan: dos punts m pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 冒號／冒号 (zh) (màohào)

• Czech: dvojtečka (cs) f
• Danish: kolon (da) n
• Dutch: dubbele punt (nl) f, dubbelpunt (nl) n
• Esperanto: dupunkto (eo)
• Estonian: koolon
• Faroese: kolon n
• Finnish: kaksoispiste (fi)
• French: deux points (fr) m pl
• Galician: dous puntos (gl) m pl
• Georgian: ორწერტილი (orc̣erṭili)
• German: Doppelpunkt (de) m, Kolon (de) n
• Greek: άνω και κάτω τελεία (el) f (áno kai káto teleía)
• Hebrew: נקודתיים‎ (he) f pl (nekudataim)
• Hindi: कोलन m (kolan), अपूर्ण विराम (apūrṇ virām), कॉलन m (kŏlan)
• Hungarian: kettőspont (hu)
• Ido: bipunto (io)
• Indonesian: titik dua (id)
• Interlingua: duo punctos pl
• Irish: idirstad m
• Italian: due punti (it) m pl
• Japanese: コロン (koron)
• Kazakh: қос нүкте (qos nükte)
• Korean: 쌍점(雙點) (ko) (ssangjeom), 콜론 (kollon)
• Kyrgyz: кош чекит (koş çekit)
• Latvian: kols m
• Lithuanian: dvitaškis m
• Macedonian: две точки f pl (dve točki)
• Malagasy: teboka roa
• Mongolian: давхар цэг (davxar ceg)
• Moore: tẽg-yɩɩbre
• Norwegian: kolon n
• Persian: دونقطه‎ (fa) (donoqte)
• Polish: dwukropek (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: dois pontos m pl
• Punjabi: ਦੁਬਿੰਦੀ f (dubindī)
• Romanian: două puncte (ro) n pl
• Russian: двоето́чие (ru) n (dvojetóčije)
• Scottish Gaelic: còilean m, dà-phuing f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: двоточка f, двоточје n, двотачка f

  Roman: dvotočka (sh) f, dvotočje (sh) n, dvotačka f

• Slovak: dvojbodka f
• Slovene: dvopičje (sl) n
• Spanish: dos puntos m pl
• Swahili: nukta mbili, koloni
• Swedish: kolon (sv) n
• Tagalog: tutuldok
• Tajik: ду нуқта (du nuqta), аломати баён (alomati bayon)
• Thai: ทวิภาค (th) (tá-wí-pâak)
• Turkish: iki nokta üst üste, iki nokta (tr)
• Ukrainian: двокра́пка f (dvokrápka)
• Uyghur: قوش چېكىت‎ (qosh chëkit)
• Uzbek: ikki nuqta, qoʻsh nuqta
• Vietnamese: dấu hai chấm (vi) (𧿫𠄩點)
• Welsh: colon m

See also

• Wikipedia article on colons (in punctuation)

Punctuation

• 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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkəʊ.lən/, /ˈkəʊ.lɒn/
• (US) enPR: kō'lən, IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊlən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊlən

Noun

colon (plural colons or cola or coli)

2. (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

• ascending colon
• colectomy
• colic
• colitis
• colonic
• colonic irrigation
• colonitis
• colonoscope
• colonoscopy
• colostomy
• colovaginoplasty
• descending colon
• redundant colon
• sigmoid colon
• transverse colon

 

Translations

the last part of the digestive system

• Arabic: قُولُون‎ m (qulūn)

  Egyptian Arabic: قولون‎ m (qawlūn)

• Asturian: colon (ast) m
• Bashkir: туҡ эсәк (tuq esäk), йыуан эсәк (yıwan esäk)
• Bulgarian: колон m (kolon)
• Catalan: còlon (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 結腸／结肠 (git³ coeng⁴)

  Mandarin: 結腸／结肠 (zh) (jiécháng)

• Czech: tračník (cs) m
• Danish: tyktarm (da) c
• Dutch: karteldarm (nl) m
• Esperanto: kojlo
• Finnish: lynkkysuoli (fi)
• French: côlon (fr) m
• Galician: colon (gl) m
• German: Kolon (de) n, Grimmdarm (de) m
• Greek: κόλον (el) n (kólon)
• Hungarian: vastagbél (hu)
• Irish: drólann f
• Japanese: 大腸 (ja) (daichō)
• Korean: 큰창자 (ko) (keunchangja), 대장(大腸) (ko) (daejang), 굵은밸 (gulgeunbael) (North Korea)
• Lithuanian: gaubtinė žarna f
• Macedonian: дебело црево n (debelo crevo)
• Maltese: kolon m
• Maori: kōpiro nui
• Marathi: मोठे आतडे n (moṭhe ātḍe), बृहदांत्र n (bruhdāntra)
• Navajo: achʼíídííl
• Norwegian: endetarm m
• Occitan: colon (oc) m
• Persian: کولون‎ (kolon)
• Polish: okrężnica (pl) f
• Portuguese: cólon (pt) m
• Russian: ободо́чная кишка́ f (obodóčnaja kišká), то́лстая кишка́ (ru) f (tólstaja kišká)
• Scottish Gaelic: caolan mòr m
• Slovak: hrubé črevo (sk) n
• Slovene: debelo črevo (sl) n, danka (sl) f
• Spanish: colon (es) m
• Swedish: tjocktarm (sv) c, grovtarm (sv)
• Turkish: kolon (tr)
• Volapük: krasum
• Welsh: colon m

See also

• Wikipedia article on the colon (in anatomy)
• bowel
• large intestine
• rectum

Etymology 3

From French colon.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kəˈlɒn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kəˈloʊn/, /koʊ.loʊn/

Noun

colon (plural colons)

1. (obsolete) A husbandman.
2. A European colonial settler, especially in a French colony.
   • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 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

• colone

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, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• colon in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• colon at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Locon, locon, lonco

Asturian

Noun

colon m (plural cólones)

1. (anatomy) colon (digestive system)

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin colōnus.

Noun

colon m (plural colons, feminine colona)

1. colonist, settler
2. farmer during the Roman Empire

Related terms

• colònia

Further reading

• “colon” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Esperanto

Noun

colon

1. accusative singular of colo

French

FWOTD – 8 July 2017

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin colōnus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.lɔ̃/

Noun

colon m (plural colons)

1. colonist, colonizer
2. 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.

3. 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.

4. sharecropper in the system of colonat partiaire
5. (vulgar, Canada) hillbilly, hick

Related terms

• colonie
• coloniser

Etymology 2

See côlon.

Noun

colon

1. Misspelling of côlon.

Further reading

• “colon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of colonel.[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.lɔ̃/

1. (military slang) colonel

Derived terms

• mon colon (interjection)

Interlingua

Noun

colon (uncountable)

1. (anatomy) colon

Italian

Etymology 1

Unadapted borrowing from Latin colon, from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.lon/
• Rhymes: -ɔlon
• Syllabification: cò‧lon

Noun

colon m (invariable)

1. (anatomy) colon (part of the body)

Derived terms

• colectomia
• colite
• colon ascendente
• colon discendente
• colon sigmoideo
• colon trasverso
• colonscopia
• colostomia
• sindrome del colon irritabile

Etymology 2

Unadapted borrowing from Latin cōlon, from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔ.lon/
• Rhymes: -ɔlon
• Syllabification: cò‧lon

Noun

colon m (plural cola)

1. colon (punctuation mark)

Etymology 3

Unadapted borrowing from Spanish colón.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koˈlɔn/
• Rhymes: -ɔn
• Syllabification: co‧lòn

Noun

colon m (plural colones)

1. Alternative form of colón

Anagrams

• clono, clonò

Latin

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.lon/, [ˈkɔɫ̪ɔn]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.lon/, [ˈkɔːlon]

Noun

colon n (genitive colī); second declension

1. (anatomy) The colon; large intestine
2. 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

• → English: colon

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).

Alternative forms

• cōlum
• cōlus

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkoː.lon/, [ˈkoːɫ̪ɔn]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.lon/, [ˈkɔːlon]

Noun

cōlon n (genitive cōlī); second declension

1. a member or part of a verse of a poem

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

Etymology

From French côlon.

Noun

colon m (plural coloni)

1. colon

Declension

Declension of colon

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) colon	colonul	(niște) coloni	colonii
genitive/dative	(unui) colon	colonului	(unor) coloni	colonilor
vocative	colonule		colonilor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkolon/ [ˈko.lõn]
• Rhymes: -olon
• Syllabification: co‧lon

Etymology 1

From Latin cōlon, from Ancient Greek κῶλον (kôlon).

Noun

colon m (plural cólones)

1. (grammar) colon (punctuation mark)

Etymology 2

From Latin cŏlon, from Ancient Greek κόλον (kólon).

Noun

colon m (plural cólones)

1. (anatomy) colon (part of the large intestine)

Derived terms

• colonoscopia, colonoscopía
• colonoscopio
• megacolon
• mesocolon

Further reading

• “colon”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014