English
colon
Colon comes from Latin cōlon ‘a member of a verse of poem’, and goes back to Ancient Greek κῶλον.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκῶλονkôlon‘a member, limb, clause, part of a verse’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōlon‘a member of a verse of poem’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005colon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκῶλονkôlon‘a member, limb, clause, part of a verse’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōlon‘a member of a verse of poem’
- Englishearliest quotation 2005colon
Earliest quotation: 2005, William Strunk Jr., E.B. White: “A colon tells the reader that what follows is…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- ‘to bend, crook’
cylinder, chalice, calender, skelly, scoliosis, 17 more
through Ancient Greek κῶλον ‘a member, limb, clause, part of a verse’
through Latin cōlon ‘a member of a verse of poem’
Another origin of colon
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκόλονkólon‘the large intestine, also food, meat, fodder’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcŏlon‘large intestine’
- Englishtodaycolon
Another origin of colon
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcolon
- Englishtodaycolon
Today it means
noun The punctuation mark ⟨:⟩.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek κῶλον / colon