column

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
column/ˈkɒləm/

▶noun

• 1 an upright pillar supporting an arch or other structure or standing alone as a monument.

  ■ an upright shaft used for controlling a machine.

• 2 a vertical division of a page or text.

  ■ a regular section of a newspaper or magazine on a particular subject or by a particular person.

• 3 a line of people or vehicles moving in the same direction.

  ■ Military a narrow-fronted deep formation of troops in successive lines.

– derivatives
columnar adjective,
columned adjective.

– origin ME: partly from OFr. columpne, reinforced by its source, L. columna ‘pillar’.