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.