columbine
Syllables: col·um·bine/ˈkɒləmˌbaɪn/US/ˈkɑləmˌbaɪn/
columbine noun: any plant of the genus Aquilegia, having distinctive bell-shaped flowers with spurs on each petal.
Noun (1)
columbine (plural columbines)
Adjective
UK/kəˈlʌm.baɪn/US/kəˈlʌm.baɪn/
columbine (comparative more columbine, superlative most columbine)
- Pertaining to a dove or pigeon.
- Near-synonyms: columboid, peristeronic
- It is not possible to join serpentine wisdom with the columbine innocency, except men know exactly all the conditions of the serpent.1605, Francis Bacon, “(please specify |book=1 or 2)”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas...
- Synonyms:
- columbid, columboid, peristeronic
Proper noun capitalized: Columbine
Columbine
- A census-designated place in Arapahoe County and Jefferson County, Colorado, United States.
- In 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold killed 12 of their fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives in the school library.2012 April 3, Laura Smith-Spark, “Are mass killings on the increase? Criminologist says no”, in CNN, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2021
- The sweetheart of Harlequin in old pantomimes.
- The Clown is a London cockney, with a prodigious eye to his own comfort and muffins,—a Lord Mayor's fool, who loved "everything that was good;" and Columbine is the boarding-school girl, ripe for running away with, and making a dance of it all the way from Chelsea to Gretna Green.1845, Leigh Hunt, The Indicator: a Miscellany for the Fields and the Fireside, page 213
Noun (2) capitalized: Columbine
Columbine (plural Columbines)
- An incident in which someone shoots multiple people at a school.
- Research indicates that many children are afraid of “a Columbine” occurring in their school, or are concerned about other forms of school violence (Aronson, 2000; Garbarino & deLara, 2002; Gaughan et al., 2001; National Association of Attorneys General, 2000).2005, Nancy E. Dowd, Dorothy G. Singer, Robin Fretwell Wilson, Handbook of Children, Culture, and Violence, page 333
- Granted, I'm not exactly grabbing an ax and going to town or pulling a “Columbine” but the idea of engaging in such activities has crossed my twisted little mind and plagued my black little heart in dreams only.2011, C.M. Dabbah, The House of Shades, page v
Synonyms of columbine
Forms of columbine
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | columbines |
| plural | Columbines |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more columbine |
| superlative | most columbine |
Origin of columbine
From the Latin colombina herba (“dove-like plant”), the flower being likened to five clustered pigeons.
From Middle English columbyne, from Old French columbin (French colombin), from Latin columbinus, from columba (“dove, pigeon”).
From columbine.
Words formed from columbine
- Canadian columbine
- columbinic
- common columbine
- eastern columbine
- Columbiner
Phrases with columbine
Questions about columbine
- What does columbine mean?
- Columbine means any plant of the genus Aquilegia, having distinctive bell-shaped flowers with spurs on each petal.
- What part of speech is columbine?
- Columbine can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce columbine?
- Columbine is pronounced /ˈkɒləmˌbaɪn/ (UK).
- What is the plural of columbine?
- The plural of columbine is columbines.
Words near columbine in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: columbine (page history and authors); Columbine (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-columbine.wav.
Cite this entry: “columbine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/columbine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.