▪ I. ‖ col, n.1
(kɒl)
[Fr., Pr. and Gallo-Romanic col:—L. collum neck, used of Parnassus by Statius, = jugum; so, obs. It. collo ‘altura, giogo’ (Della Crusca).
Cf. the corresp. north. Eng. halse, hause lit. ‘neck’, and Ger. joch yoke, jugum. From an early date the local col has been rendered in med. Lat. charters, etc., by collis ‘hill’, as well as by collum; and in the Italianizing of Piedmontese names, colle is now substituted, as in Colle di Tenda for the local Col de Tenda, Pr. lou côu de Tendo.]
1. A marked depression in the summit-line of a mountain chain, generally affording a pass from one slope to the other. A word belonging to the Romanic dialects of the Alps, which Alpine climbers and geologists have used of other regions.
| 1853 Th. Ross Humboldt's Trav. III. xxxii. 291 note, The Cols or passes indicate the minimum of the height to which the ridge of the mountains lowers in a particular country. 1855 J. D. Forbes Tour Mt. Blanc viii. 90 It is five hours walk to the col. 1873 Geikie Gt. Ice Age xiii. 174 The denudation, or wearing away, of the col between two valleys. |
2. Meteorol. A region of lower pressure between two anticyclones.
| 1885 Times 26 Oct. 6/6 The barometer is (relatively) high over the Bay of Biscay and..Scandinavia, and these two high-pressure systems are joined by a ‘col’ which lies over the North Sea. Ibid. 30 Oct. 6/6 The two [high-pressure areas] are united by a ‘col’ which now lies over the United Kingdom. 1887 R. Abercromby Weather 26 Between every two anticyclones we find a furrow, neck or ‘col’ of low pressure. 1923 N. Shaw Forecasting Weather v. 117 A col, the saddle-shaped region between two lows and two highs. 1927 W. G. Kendrew Climates of Continents (ed. 2) 354 The col is essentially an anticyclonic formation. |
Hence col v. nonce-wd. (see quot.).
| 1884 Sat. Rev. 8 Mar. 311 Mountains..have been ‘colled’ (a term of art; the verb signifying to go up one side and down another). 1890 Daily News 5 Mar. 5/2 ‘To do the Steinmannspitz..or col the dear old Darnennadel.’ |
▪ II. col, col., n.2
(kɒl)
Also Col.
1. Abbreviated form of column 4.
| 1903 A. Bennett Let. 9 May (1966) I. 37 They were giving me 2 guineas for 2 cols (1000 words). 1918 E. Pound in Lett. J. Joyce (1966) II. 424 The owner of the Manchester guardian..shows no disposition to have it in his own better paid cols. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 276 Payment at the rate of guinea per col. |
2. Short for ‘the epistle of Paul to the Colossians’ in the New Testament.
| 1535 Coverdale Bible, The bokes of the hole Byble... Abbreuiacion... Col. The epistle to the Collossions. 1611 Bible (A.V.) John i. 3 (marginal ref), Col. 1. 16. 1738 A. Cruden Compl. Concordance Holy Scriptures s.v. body, The substance of a shadow or ceremony, Col. 2. 17. 1889 R. L. Ottley in C. Gore Lux Mundi xii. 507 Consider Col. i. 28. 1982 A. E. Harvey Jesus & Constraints of History 177 Pre-existence is certainly attributed to Jesus in John's gospel.., and possibly in Paul (Col. 1. 15..). |
3. Abbrev. of colonel n.
| 1707 Ld. Fermanagh Let. 23 Feb. in M. M. Verney Verney Lett. (1930) I. xi. 175 Sir John Witterong is made a Col. and..four new Regiments are to be raised. 1825 E. Weeton Jrnl. 10 Apr. (1969) II. 348 They rented the garden belonging to the late Col. Fraser. 1866 Geo. Eliot Let. 4 Aug. (1956) IV. 294 Col. Hamley's volume..lies now on my revolving desk. 1985 Church Times 1 Feb. 1/1 Libya's people's congresses have voted in support of Col. Gadaffi's recommendation. |
▪ III. col
obs. f. coal, cole, cool; also, an apothecary's abbreviation for coliander.