Colophon - Columbite

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Colophon (kŏl�fŏn), n. [L. colophon finishing stroke, Gr. kolofwn; cf. L. culmen top, collis hill. Cf. .] An inscription, monogram, or cipher, containing the place and date of publication, printer's name, etc., formerly placed on the last page of a book.
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The colophon, or final description, fell into disuse, and . . . the title page had become the principal direct means of identifying the book. De Morgan.
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The book was uninjured from title page to colophon. Sir W. Scott.
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Colophonite (kŏl�f�nīt or k�lŏf�nīt), n. [Cf. F. colophonite. So named from its resemblance to the color of colophony.] (Min.) A coarsely granular variety of garnet.
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Colophony (kŏl�fōn� or k�lŏf�n�; 277), n. [Gr. 'h kolofwnia (sc. rhtinh resin, gum) resin, fr. Kolofwnios of or from Colophon in Ionia.] Rosin.
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Coloquintida (?), n. See . Shak.
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Color (kŭlẽr), n. [Written also colour.] [OF. color, colur, colour, F. couleur, L. color; prob. akin to celare to conceal (the color taken as that which covers). See .] 1. A property depending on the relations of light to the eye, by which individual and specific differences in the hues and tints of objects are apprehended in vision; as, gay colors; sad colors, etc.
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☞ The sensation of color depends upon a peculiar function of the retina or optic nerve, in consequence of which rays of light produce different effects according to the length of their waves or undulations, waves of a certain length producing the sensation of red, shorter waves green, and those still shorter blue, etc. White, or ordinary, light consists of waves of various lengths so blended as to produce no effect of color, and the color of objects depends upon their power to absorb or reflect a greater or less proportion of the rays which fall upon them.
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2. Any hue distinguished from white or black.
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3. The hue or color characteristic of good health and spirits; ruddy complexion.
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Give color to my pale cheek. Shak.
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4. That which is used to give color; a paint; a pigment; as, oil colors or water colors.
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5. That which covers or hides the real character of anything; semblance; excuse; disguise; appearance.
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They had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship. Acts xxvii. 30.
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That he should die is worthy policy;
But yet we want a color for his death. Shak.
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6. Shade or variety of character; kind; species.
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Boys and women are for the most part cattle of this color. Shak.
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7. A distinguishing badge, as a flag or similar symbol (usually in the plural); as, the colors or color of a ship or regiment; the colors of a race horse (that is, of the cap and jacket worn by the jockey).
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In the United States each regiment of infantry and artillery has two colors, one national and one regimental. Farrow.
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8. (Law) An apparent right; as where the defendant in trespass gave to the plaintiff an appearance of title, by stating his title specially, thus removing the cause from the jury to the court. Blackstone.
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☞ Color is express when it is averred in the pleading, and implied when it is implied in the pleading.
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Coloq. Body color . See under . -- Coloq. Color blindness , total or partial inability to distinguish or recognize colors. See . -- Coloq. Complementary color , one of two colors so related to each other that when blended together they produce white light; -- so called because each color makes up to the other what it lacks to make it white. Artificial or pigment colors, when mixed, produce effects differing from those of the primary colors, in consequence of partial absorption. -- Coloq. Of color (as persons, races, etc.), not of the white race; -- commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. -- Coloq. Primary colors , those developed from the solar beam by the prism, viz., red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, which are reduced by some authors to three, -- red, green, and violet-blue. These three are sometimes called fundamental colors. -- Coloq. Subjective color or Coloq. Accidental color , a false or spurious color seen in some instances, owing to the persistence of the luminous impression upon the retina, and a gradual change of its character, as where a wheel perfectly white, and with a circumference regularly subdivided, is made to revolve rapidly over a dark object, the teeth of the wheel appear to the eye of different shades of color varying with the rapidity of rotation. See Accidental colors, under .
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Color (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Colored (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Coloring.] [F. colorer.] 1. To change or alter the hue or tint of, by dyeing, staining, painting, etc.; to dye; to tinge; to paint; to stain.
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The rays, to speak properly, are not colored; in them there is nothing else than a certain power and disposition to stir up a sensation of this or that color. Sir I. Newton.
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2. To change or alter, as if by dyeing or painting; to give a false appearance to; usually, to give a specious appearance to; to cause to appear attractive; to make plausible; to palliate or excuse; as, the facts were colored by his prejudices.
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He colors the falsehood of Æneas by an express command from Jupiter to forsake the queen. Dryden.
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3. To hide. [Obs.]
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That by his fellowship he color might
Both his estate and love from skill of any wight. Spenser.
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Color, v. i. To acquire color; to turn red, especially in the face; to blush.
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Colorable (?), a. Specious; plausible; having an appearance of right or justice. “Colorable pretense for infidelity.” Bp. Stillingfleet.

-- Colorableness, n. -- Colorably, adv.
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Colorable and subtle crimes, that seldom are taken within the walk of human justice. Hooker.
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Coloradan n. a resident of the state of Colorado.
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coloradillo n. a handsome shrub (Hamelia patens) with showy orange to scarlet or crimson flowers; it grows from Florida and West Indies to Mexico and Brazil.
Syn. -- scarlet bush, scarlet hamelia, Hamelia patens, Hamelia erecta.
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Colorado (?), a. [Sp., red.] 1. Reddish; -- often used in proper names of rivers or creeks. [Southwestern U. S.]
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2. Medium in color and strength; -- said of cigars. [Cant]
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Colorado beetle (?). (Zoöl.) A yellowish beetle (Doryphora decemlineata), with ten longitudinal, black, dorsal stripes. It has migrated eastwards from its original habitat in Colorado, and is very destructive to the potato plant; -- called also potato beetle and potato bug. See .
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Colorado group (?). (Geol.) A subdivision of the cretaceous formation of western North America, especially developed in Colorado and the upper Missouri region.
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Coloradoite (?), n. (Min.) Mercury telluride, an iron-black metallic mineral, found in Colorado.
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Colorate (?), a. [L. coloratus, p. p. of colorare to color.] Colored. [Obs.] Ray.
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Coloration (?), n. The act or art of coloring; the state of being colored. Bacon.
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The females . . . resemble each other in their general type of coloration. Darwin.
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Colorature (?; 135), n. [Cf. G. coloratur, fr. LL. coloratura.] (Mus.) Vocal music colored, as it were, by florid ornaments, runs, or rapid passages.
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Color-blind (?), a. Affected with color blindness. See Color blindness, under , n.
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Colored (?), a. 1. Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
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The lime rod, colored as the glede. Chaucer.
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The colored rainbow arched wide. Spenser.
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2. Specious; plausible; adorned so as to appear well; as, a highly colored description. Sir G. C. Lewis.
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His colored crime with craft to cloke. Spenser.
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3. Of some other color than black or white.
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4. (Ethnol.) Of some other color than white; having a skin color darker than that of caucasian people; mostly applied to negroes or persons having negro blood; as, a colored man; the colored people. Opposite of white and caucasian.
Syn. -- coloured, dark-skinned.
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5. (Bot.) Of some other color than green.
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Colored, meaning, as applied to foliage, of some other color than green. Gray.
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☞ In botany, green is not regarded as a color, but white is. Wood.
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colorful adj. 1. having striking color. Opposite of colorless. [Narrower terms: changeable, chatoyant, iridescent, shot; deep, rich; flaming; fluorescent, glowing; prismatic; psychedelic; red, ruddy, flushed, empurpled]
Syn. -- colourful.
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2. striking in variety and interest. Opposite of colorless or dull. [Narrower terms: brave, fine, gay, glorious; flamboyant, resplendent, unrestrained; flashy, gaudy, jazzy, showy, snazzy, sporty; picturesque]
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3. having color or a certain color; not black, white or grey; as, colored crepe paper. Opposite of colorless and monochrome. [Narrower terms: tinted; touched, tinged; amber, brownish-yellow, yellow-brown; amethyst; auburn, reddish-brown; aureate, gilded, gilt, gold, golden; azure, cerulean, sky-blue, bright blue; bicolor, bicolour, bicolored, bicoloured, bichrome; blue, bluish, light-blue, dark-blue; blushful, blush-colored, rosy; bottle-green; bronze, bronzy; brown, brownish, dark-brown; buff; canary, canary-yellow; caramel, caramel brown; carnation; chartreuse; chestnut; dun; earth-colored, earthlike; fuscous; green, greenish, light-green, dark-green; jade, jade-green; khaki; lavender, lilac; mauve; moss green, mosstone; motley, multicolor, culticolour, multicolored, multicoloured, painted, particolored, particoloured, piebald, pied, varicolored, varicoloured; mousy, mouse-colored; ocher, ochre; olive-brown; olive-drab; olive; orange, orangish; peacock-blue; pink, pinkish; purple, violet, purplish; red, blood-red, carmine, cerise, cherry, cherry-red, crimson, ruby, ruby-red, scarlet; red, reddish; rose, roseate; rose-red; rust, rusty, rust-colored; snuff, snuff-brown, snuff-color, snuff-colour, snuff-colored, snuff-coloured, mummy-brown, chukker-brown; sorrel, brownish-orange; stone, stone-gray; straw-color, straw-colored, straw-coloured; tan; tangerine; tawny; ultramarine; umber; vermilion, vermillion, cinibar, Chinese-red; yellow, yellowish; yellow-green; avocado; bay; beige; blae bluish-black or gray-blue); coral; creamy; cress green, cresson, watercress; hazel; honey, honey-colored; hued(postnominal); magenta; maroon; pea-green; russet; sage, sage-green; sea-green] [Also See: , , , .]
Syn. -- colored, coloured, in color(predicate).
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Colorific (?; 277), a. [L. color color + facere to make: cf. F. colorifique.] Capable of communicating color or tint to other bodies.
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Colorimeter (?), n. [Color + -meter: cf. F. colorimètre.] An instrument for measuring the depth of the color of anything, especially of a liquid, by comparison with a standard liquid.
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Colorimetry (?), n. [See .] 1. The quantitative determination of the depth of color of a substance.
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2. A method of quantitative chemical analysis based upon the comparison of the depth of color of a solution with that of a standard liquid.
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Coloring (?), n. 1. The act of applying color to; also, that which produces color.
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2. Change of appearance as by addition of color; appearance; show; disguise; misrepresentation.
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Tell the whole story without coloring or gloss. Compton Reade.
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Coloq. Dead coloring . See under .
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Colorist (?), n. [Cf. F. coloriste.] One who colors; an artist who excels in the use of colors; one to whom coloring is of prime importance.
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Titian, Paul Veronese, Van Dyck, and the rest of the good colorists. Dryden.
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Colorless, a. 1. Without color; not distinguished by any hue; transparent; as, colorless water; a colorless gas. [Narrower terms: ashen, bloodless, livid, lurid, pale, pallid, pasty, wan, waxen; neutral; white] [Also See: , .]
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2. Free from any manifestation of partial or peculiar sentiment or feeling; not disclosing likes, dislikes, prejudice, etc.; as, colorless music; a colorless style; definitions should be colorless.
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3. having lost its normal color. [Narrower terms: blanched, etiolate, etiolated, whitened; bleached, faded, washed-out, washy; dimmed, dulled, grayed; dirty; dull, sober, somber, subfusc] colored
Syn. -- colorless, uncolored, uncoloured.
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Colorman (?), n.; pl. Colormen (#). A vender of paints, etc. Simmonds.
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colors n. 1. a flag flown by a ship to show its nationality.
Syn. -- ensign, colours.
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2. a distinguishing emblem; as, his tie proclaimed his school colors.
Syn. -- colours.
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Color sergeant. See under .
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Colossal (?), a. [Cf. F. colossal, L. colosseus. See .] 1. Of enormous size; gigantic; huge; as, a colossal statue. “A colossal stride.” Motley.
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2. (Sculpture & Painting) Of a size larger than heroic. See .
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Colossean (?), a. Colossal. [R.]
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Colosseum (?), n. [Neut., fr. L. colosseus gigantic. See .] The amphitheater of Vespasian in Rome. [Also written Coliseum.]
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Colossus (?), n.; pl. L. Colossi (#), E. Colossuses (#). [L., fr. Gr. �.] 1. A statue of gigantic size. The name was especially applied to certain famous statues in antiquity, as the Colossus of Nero in Rome, the Colossus of Apollo at Rhodes.
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He doth bestride the narrow world
Like a colossus. Shak.
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☞ There is no authority for the statement that the legs of the Colossus at Rhodes extended over the mouth of the harbor. Dr. Wm. Smith.
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2. Any man or beast of gigantic size.
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Colostrum (?), n. [L., biestings.] (Med.) (a) The first milk secreted after delivery; biestings. (b) A mixture of turpentine and the yolk of an egg, formerly used as an emulsion.
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Colotomy (?), n. [Gr. kolon colon + tomh cutting.] (Surg.) An operation for opening the colon
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Colour (?), n. See . [Brit.]
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coloured adj. same as . [Brit.]
Syn. -- colored, in color(predicate), colorful.
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colourful adj. same as . [Brit.]
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colouring n. same as . [Brit.]
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colours n. same as . [Brit.]
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Colp (kŏkp), n. See .
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Colportage (?), n. [F.] The distribution of religious books, tracts, etc., by colporteurs.
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Colporter (?), n. Same as .
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Colporteur (?; 277), n. [F. colporteur one who carries on his neck, fr. colporter to carry on one's neck; col (L. collum) neck + porter (L. portare) to carry.] A hawker; specifically, one who travels about selling and distributing religious tracts and books.
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Colstaff (?), n. [F. col neck + E. staff. Cf. .] A staff by means of which a burden is borne by two persons on their shoulders.
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Colt (kōlt; 110), n. [OE. colt a young horse, ass, or camel, AS. colt; cf. dial. Sw. kullt a boy, lad.] 1. The young of the equine genus or horse kind of animals; -- sometimes distinctively applied to the male, filly being the female. Cf. .
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☞ In sporting circles it is usual to reckon the age of colts from some arbitrary date, as from January 1, or May 1, next preceding the birth of the animal.
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2. A young, foolish fellow. Shak.
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3. A short knotted rope formerly used as an instrument of punishment in the navy. Ham. Nav. Encyc.
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Coloq. Colt's tooth , an imperfect or superfluous tooth in young horses. -- Coloq. To cast one's colt's tooth , to cease from youthful wantonness. “Your colt's tooth is not cast yet.” Shak. -- Coloq. To have a colt's tooth , to be wanton. Chaucer.
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Colt (kōlt; 110), v. i. To frisk or frolic like a colt; to act licentiously or wantonly. [Obs.]
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They shook off their bridles and began to colt. Spenser.
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Colt, v. t. 1. To horse; to get with young. Shak.
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2. To befool. [Obs.] Shak.
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Colter (?), n. [AS. culter, fr. L. culter plowshare, knife. Cf. .] A knife or cutter, attached to the beam of a plow to cut the sward, in advance of the plowshare and moldboard. [Written also coulter.]
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Coltish (?), a. Like a colt; wanton; frisky.
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He was all coltish, full of ragery. Chaucer.

-- Coltishly, adv. -- Coltishness, n.
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Colt pistol. (Firearms) A self-loading or semi-automatic pistol with removable magazine in the handle holding seven cartridges. The recoil extracts and ejects the empty cartridge case, and reloads ready for another shot. Called also Browning pistol, Colt-Browning pistol, automatic pistol and automatic.
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Colt revolver. (Firearms) A revolver made according to a system using a patented revolving cylinder, holding six cartridges, patented by Samuel Colt, an American inventor, in 1835. With various modifications, it was for many years been the standard for the United States army.
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Coltsfoot (?), n. (Bot.) A perennial herb (Tussilago Farfara), whose leaves and rootstock are sometimes employed in medicine.
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Coloq. Butterbur coltsfoot (Bot.), a European plant (Petasites vulgaris).
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Colt's tooth (?). See under .
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Coluber (?), n. [L., a serpent.] (Zoöl.) A genus of harmless serpents.
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☞ Linnæus placed in this genus all serpents, whether venomous or not, whose scales beneath the tail are arranged in pairs; but by modern writers it is greatly restricted.
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colubrid n. any member of a large family (Colubridae) of mostly harmless temperate-to-tropical terrestrial or arboreal or aquatic snakes.
Syn. -- colubrid snake.
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Colubridae n. a broad family including only nonvenomous snakes, containing about two-thirds of all living species. It includes the bullsnakes, garter snakes, and water snakes as well as many other species.
Syn. -- family Colubridae.
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Colubrina n. a genus of mostly tropical American shrubs or small trees with small yellowish flowers and yellow or red fruits.
Syn. -- genus Colubrina.
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Colubrine (?), a. [L. colubrinus.] 1. (Zoöl.) like or related to snakes of the genus Coluber.
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2. Like a snake; cunning; crafty. Johnson.
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Colugo (?), n. [Prob. an aboriginal name.] (Zoöl.) A peculiar East Indian mammal (Galleopithecus volans), having along the sides, connecting the fore and hind limbs, a parachutelike membrane, by means of which it is able to make long leaps, like the flying squirrel; -- called also flying lemur.
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Columba (?), n. (Med.) See .
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Columbæ (?), n. pl.; [L. columba pigeon.] (Zoöl.) An order of birds, including the pigeons.
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Columbarium (?), n.; pl. L. Columbaria (#) [L. See .] (Rom. Antiq.) (a) A dovecote or pigeon house. (b) A sepulchral chamber with niches for holding cinerary urns.
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Columbary (?), n.; pl. Columbaries (#). [L. columbarium, fr. columba a dove.] A dovecote; a pigeon house. Sir T. Browne.
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Columbate (?), n. [Cf. F. colombate. See .] (Chem.) A salt of columbic acid; a niobate. See .
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Columbatz fly (?). [From Kolumbatz, a mountain in Germany.] (Zoöl.) See Buffalo fly, under .
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Columbella (?), n. [NL., dim. of L. columba a dove. So called from a fancied resemblance in color and form, of some species.] (Zoöl.) A genus of univalve shells, abundant in tropical seas. Some species, as Columbella mercatoria, were formerly used as shell money.
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Columbia (?), n. America; the United States; -- a poetical appellation given in honor of Columbus, the discoverer. Dr. T. Dwight.
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Columbiad (?), n. [From Columbia the United States.] (Mil.) A form of seacoast cannon; a long, chambered gun designed for throwing shot or shells with heavy charges of powder, at high angles of elevation.
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☞ Since the War of 1812 the Columbiad has been much modified, especially by General Rodman, and the improved form now used in seacoast defense is often called the Rodman gun.
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Columbian (?), a. [From .] Of or pertaining to the United States, or to America.
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Columbic (?), a. [From .] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or containing, columbium or niobium; niobic.
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Coloq. Columbic acid (Chem.), a weak acid derived from columbic or niobic oxide, Nb2O5; -- called also niobic acid.
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Columbic, a. [From .] Pertaining to, or derived from, the columbo root.
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Coloq. Columbic acid (Chem.), an organic acid extracted from the columbo root as a bitter, yellow, amorphous substance.
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Columbier (?), n. See .
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Columbiferous (?), a. [Columbium + -ferous.] Producing or containing columbium.
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Columbin (?), n. (Chem.) A white, crystalline, bitter substance. See .
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Columbine (?), a. [L. columbinus, fr. columba dove.] Of or pertaining to a dove; dovelike; dove-colored. “Columbine innocency.” Bacon.
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Columbine, n. [LL. columbina, L. columbinus dovelike, fr. columba dove: cf. F. colombine. Perh. so called from the beaklike spurs of its flowers.] 1. (Bot.) A plant of several species of the genus Aquilegia; as, Aquilegia vulgaris, or the common garden columbine; Aquilegia Canadensis, the wild red columbine of North America.
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2. The mistress or sweetheart of Harlequin in pantomimes. Brewer.
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Columbite (?), n. [Cf. F. colombite. See .] (Min.) A mineral of a black color, submetallic luster, and high specific specific gravity. It is a niobate (or columbate) of iron and manganese, containing tantalate of iron; -- first found in New England.
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