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columbine

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columbine¹

  • /ˈkɒləmˌbaɪn/ UK
  • /ˈkɑləmˌbaɪn/ US

Where it comes from

From the Latin colombina herba (“dove-like plant”), the flower being likened to five clustered pigeons.

noun columbines

  1. Any plant of the genus Aquilegia, having distinctive bell-shaped flowers with spurs on each petal.

columbine²

  • /kəˈlʌm.baɪn/ UK
  • /ˈkɒləmˌbaɪn/ UK
  • /kəˈlʌm.baɪn/ US
  • /ˈkɑləmˌbaɪn/ US

Where it comes from

From Middle English columbyne, from Old French columbin (French colombin), from Latin columbinus, from columba (“dove, pigeon”).

adjective more columbine · most columbine

  1. archaic Pertaining to a dove or pigeon. Near-synonyms: columboid, peristeronic

    Similar: columbid, columboid, peristeronic

Columbine³

  • /ˈkɒləmˌbaɪn/ UK
  • /ˈkɑləmˌbaɪn/ US

Where it comes from

From columbine.

proper noun

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

Columbine⁴

  • /ˈkɒləmˌbaɪn/ UK
  • /ˈkɑləmˌbaɪn/ US

Where it comes from

From the school shooting that occurred at Columbine High School in 1999.

noun Columbines

  1. slang 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).

Translations

Every language

noun any plant of the genus Aquilegia

Españolcolombina, aguileña
한국어매발톱꽃 maebaltopkkot
日本語苧環 odamaki, オダマキ odamaki
中文耬斗菜 /耧斗菜 lóudǒucài
Portuguêsaquilégia
Françaisancolie
DeutschAkelei
Italianocolombina, aquilegia
Ελληνικάακουιλέγκια akouilégkia
Românăcăldărușă
Русскийводосбо́р vodosbór

adj pertaining to doves or pigeons

中文鴿的 /鸽的 gē de, 鴿似的 /鸽似的 gē shìde, 鴿色的 /鸽色的 gē sè de
Русскийголуби́ный golubínyj

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Cite this
MLA

"columbine." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/columbine. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

columbine. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/columbine

Chicago

"columbine." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/columbine.

BibTeX
@misc{columbine_2026,
  title = {columbine},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/columbine},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}