column

The five orders of column in classical architecture: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite. The Doric is the earliest, being used before the 5th century BC, and the Composite is the latest, appearing in AD 82.

In architecture, a structure, round or polygonal in plan, erected vertically as a support for some part of a building. Cretan paintings reveal the existence of wooden columns in Aegean architecture in about 1500 BC. The Hittites, Assyrians, and Egyptians also used wooden columns, and they are a feature of the monumental architecture of China and Japan. In classical architecture there are five principal types of column; see order.

The Greeks and Romans used stone, as did later European, Asian, and American builders. Modern architects often design simple but elegant columns.

column

Vertical list of numbers or terms, especially in matrices.