different between column vs course

English

Etymology

From Middle English columne, columpne, columpe, borrowed from Old French columne, from Latin columna (“a column, pillar, post”), originally a collateral form of columen, contraction culmen (“a pillar, top, crown, summit”). Akin to Latin collis (“a hill”), celsus (“high”), probably to Ancient Greek ??????? (koloph?n, “top, summit”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?l?m/
• (General American), (Ireland) enPR: k?l??m, IPA^(key): /?k?l?m/
• (General American, rare), (Ireland) enPR: k?l?j?m, IPA^(key): /?k?lj?m/
• Hyphenation: col?umn
• Rhymes: -?l?m

Noun

column (plural columns)

1. (architecture) A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.
2. A vertical line of entries in a table, usually read from top to bottom.
3. A body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road.
4. A body of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that has multiple adjacent such on a single page.

5. A unit of width, especially of advertisements, in a periodical, equivalent to the width of a usual column of text.

6. (by extension) A recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece, especially by a single author or small rotating group of authors, or on a single theme.

7. Something having similar vertical form or structure to the things mentioned above, such as a spinal column.
8. (botany) The gynostemium
9. (chemistry) An object used to separate the different components of a liquid or to purify chemical compounds.

Synonyms

• (upright structure): post, pillar, sile

Antonyms

• (line of table entries): row (which is horizontal)

Hypernyms

• (upright structure): beam

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• column in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• column in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kôs, IPA^(key): /k??s/
• (General American) enPR: kôrs, IPA^(key): /k???s/, /k??s/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: k?rs, IPA^(key): /ko(?)?s/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ko?s/
• (Tasmania) IPA^(key): /k??s/
• Homophone: coarse; curse (Tasmania)
• Rhymes: -??(?)s, -??(?)s (Tasmania)

Etymology 1

From Middle English cours, from Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from curr? (“run”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *?ers- (“to run”). Doublet of cursus.

Noun

course (plural courses)

1. A sequence of events.
   1. A normal or customary sequence.
   2. A programme, a chosen manner of proceeding.
   3. Any ordered process or sequence of steps.
   4. A learning programme, whether a single class or (Britain) a major area of study.
      • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond

        During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]

      • 1992 August 21, Edwina Currie, Diary:

        Her course will be ‘Communication Studies with Theatre Studies’: God, how tedious, how pointless.
   5. (especially in medicine) A treatment plan.
      • 1932, Agatha Christie, The Thirteen Problems

        Miss Clark, alarmed at her increasing stoutness, was doing a course of what is popularly known as banting.

   6. A stage of a meal.

   7. The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn.

      • He appointed […] the courses of the priests.

2. A path that something or someone moves along.
   1. The itinerary of a race.

   2. A racecourse.
   3. The path taken by a flow of water; a watercourse.
   4. (sports) The trajectory of a ball, frisbee etc.
   5. (golf) A golf course.
   6. (nautical) The direction of movement of a vessel at any given moment.

   7. (navigation) The intended passage of voyage, such as a boat, ship, airplane, spaceship, etc.

3. (nautical) The lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast, often named according to the mast.

4. (in the plural, courses, obsolete, euphemistic) Menses.
5. A row or file of objects.
   1. (masonry) A row of bricks or blocks.

   2. (roofing) A row of material that forms the roofing, waterproofing or flashing system.
   3. (textiles) In weft knitting, a single row of loops connecting the loops of the preceding and following rows.
6. (music) One or more strings on some musical instruments (such as the guitar, lute or vihuela): if multiple, then closely spaced, tuned in unison or octaves and intended to played together.

Hyponyms

• bird course
• crash course
• due course
• massive open online course (MOOC)

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

course (third-person singular simple present courses, present participle coursing, simple past and past participle coursed)

1. To run or flow (especially of liquids and more particularly blood).

   The oil coursed through the engine.

   Blood pumped around the human body courses throughout all its veins and arteries.

   • 2013, Martina Hyde, "Is the pope Catholic?", The Guardian, 20 September 2013[1]

     He is a South American, so perhaps revolutionary spirit courses through Francis's veins. But what, pray, does the Catholic church want with doubt?

2. (transitive) To run through or over.
3. (transitive) To pursue by tracking or estimating the course taken by one's prey; to follow or chase after.
4. (transitive) To cause to chase after or pursue game.

   to course greyhounds after deer

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of of course

Adverb

course (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Alternative form of of course

Anagrams

• Couser, Crouse, Crusoe, cerous, coures, crouse, source

French

Etymology

From Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from curr? (“run”), with influence of Italian corsa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ku?s/

Noun

course f (plural courses)

1. run, running
2. race
3. errand

Usage notes

• course is a false friend, it does not mean "course". To translate the English word course to French, use cours.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Romanian: curs?

Further reading

• “course” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• coeurs, cœurs
• coures
• écrous
• source

Norman

Etymology

From Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from curr? (“run”).

Noun

course f (plural courses)

1. (Jersey) course