fifth column

fifth column noun: a group of people which clandestinely undermines a larger group, such as a nation, to which it is expected to be loyal.

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Noun

fifth column (plural fifth columns)

A group of people which clandestinely undermines a larger group, such as a nation, to which it is expected to be loyal.
- The rebels, who in November 1936 had fought to enter and failed, walked in yesterday as troops of the generally recognised Spanish Government, and not a shot was fired at them. The supporters of Franco in the city, the “fifth column” he once spoke of, had been waiting for this moment for more than...1939 March 29, “Madrid gives itself up to Franco”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- True, we have people of the fifth column, and, unfortunately, the sixth column, with us; they have them in every country; but so far in this war the British diplomatic and secret service has not been so successful as that clever, astute brute-man Hitler and his agents.1940 September 20, The Advertiser, Adelaide, page 24, column 4
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fifth, column.

fifth column meaning in Tamil, Arabic, Persian and Thai

fifth column in Tamil

group of people: ஐந்தாம்படை aintāmpaṭai

fifth column in Arabic

group of people: الطَّابُورُ الخَامِس aṭ-ṭābūru l-ḵāmis

fifth column in Persian

group of people: ستون پنجم sotun panjom

fifth column in Thai

group of people: แนวที่ห้า, ไส้ศึก sâi-sʉ̀k

Examples of fifth column in a sentence

The supporters of Franco in the city, the “fifth column” he once spoke of, had been waiting for this moment for more than two years.1939 March 29, “Madrid gives itself up to Franco”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Lloyd George's belief in a revolutionary fifth column [the term hadn't been coined then] driving the strike was replicated on Fleet Street.2020 January 2, Conrad Landin, “Strife and strikes in post-war Britain”, in Rail, page 52:

Forms of fifth column

plural	fifth columns
alternative form	5th column

Origin of fifth column

From a 1936 radio address by Spanish Nationalist general Emilio Mola, in which he spoke of four of his army columns moving on Madrid and a fifth column (quinta columna) consisting of his militant supporters within the capital, intent on undermining the Republican government from within.

Words formed from fifth column

Questions about fifth column

What does fifth column mean?: Fifth column means a group of people which clandestinely undermines a larger group, such as a nation, to which it is expected to be loyal.
What is fifth column in Tamil?: Fifth column in Tamil is ஐந்தாம்படை (aintāmpaṭai). See Fifth column meaning in Tamil.
How do you use fifth column in a sentence?: The supporters of Franco in the city, the “fifth column” he once spoke of, had been waiting for this moment for more than two years.
What part of speech is fifth column?: Fifth column is a noun.
What is the plural of fifth column?: The plural of fifth column is fifth columns.

Words near fifth column in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: fifth column (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fifth column.wav.

Cite this entry: “fifth column.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fifth_column. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.