Dictionary

Columbus en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /kəˈlʌmbəs/

Etymology

From Latin columbus (“a dove”). Doublet of Colombo. The common noun and verb are references to the Italian explorer.

Meanings

1. A person who makes a great discovery.
   • It is colossal. You are a Columbus of science who has discovered a lost world. 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘It’s Just the very Biggest Thing in the World’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 58:

Forms

Columbus en · PROPN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /kəˈlʌmbəs/

Etymology

From Latin columbus (“a dove”). Doublet of Colombo. The common noun and verb are references to the Italian explorer.

Meanings

1. A male given name from Latin.
2. A surname.
3. A surname. ▸ Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), Italian explorer of the Americas.
4. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ The capital city of Ohio, and the county seat of Franklin County.
   • And exactly a month to the date after kissing the world with her sixth studio album, Short n' Sweet (it's like she planned it or smth...), she's [Sabrina Carpenter] kicking off her Short n' Sweet Tour in Columbus, Ohio on September 23. 2024 September 21, Heath Owens, “What to Wear to Sabrina Carpenter's 'Short N' Sweet' Tour”, in Cosmopolitan, archived from the original on 10 Dec 2024:
5. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A city, the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, with which it is consolidated.
6. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A village in Adams County, Illinois.
7. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A city, the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana.
8. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A city, the county seat of Cherokee County, Kansas.
9. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A tiny home rule city in Hickman County, Kentucky.
10. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A small city in Anoka County, Minnesota, previously a township.
11. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A city, the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi.
12. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community and inactive township in Johnson County, Missouri.
13. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A town, the county seat of Stillwater County, Montana.
14. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A city, the county seat of Platte County, Nebraska.
15. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Burlington County, New Jersey.
16. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A village in Luna County, New Mexico.
17. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A town in Chenango County, New York.
18. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A town, the county seat of Polk County, North Carolina.
19. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A tiny city in Burke County, North Dakota.
20. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A small city, the county seat of Colorado County, Texas.
21. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A small city in Columbia County and Dodge County, Wisconsin.
22. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A town in Columbia County, Wisconsin.
23. Any of various cities, towns and villages in the United States: ▸ A number of townships, in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan (2), Nebraska and Pennsylvania, listed under Columbus Township.

Deriveds

columbium · Columbian · Columbian Exchange · Knight of Columbus · Columbus Channel · Columbus County

Synonyms

Col's (capital city of Ohio)

Translations (39)

pl Kolumb (given male name) · vi Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus) · vi Colombo (Christopher Columbus) · pl Kolumb (Christopher Columbus) · mr कोलंबस (surname) · ko 콜럼버스 (Christopher Columbus) · ru Колу́мбус (given male name) · mr कोलंबस (given male name) · fr Christophe Colomb (Christopher Columbus) · el Κολόμβος (given male name) · it Colombo (Christopher Columbus) · es Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) · it Colombo (surname) · km កូឡុំ (Christopher Columbus) · mr कोलंबस (Christopher Columbus) · ro Columb (Christopher Columbus) · hu Kolumbusz Kristóf (Christopher Columbus) · vi Kha Luân Bố (Christopher Columbus) · nl Christoffel (Christopher Columbus) · de Christoph Columbus (Christopher Columbus) · or କଲମ୍ବସ୍ (Christopher Columbus) · de Christoph Kolumbus (Christopher Columbus) · ja コロンブス (Christopher Columbus) · fo Kristoffur Kolumbus (Christopher Columbus) · cmn 哥倫布 /哥伦布 (Christopher Columbus) · fr Colomb (Christopher Columbus) · es Colón (Christopher Columbus) · it Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus) · de Christoph Colon (Christopher Columbus) · cmn 哥倫布 /哥伦布 (given male name) · fo Kolumbus (Christopher Columbus) · eo Kolumbo (Christopher Columbus) · fi Kolumbus (Christopher Columbus) · de Kolumbus (Christopher Columbus) · cmn 哥倫布 /哥伦布 (surname) · ca Colom (Christopher Columbus) · pt Colombo (Christopher Columbus) · ru Колу́мб (Christopher Columbus) · ru Колу́мбус (surname)

Columbus en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• (Australia) audio
• /kəˈlʌmbəs/

Etymology

From Latin columbus (“a dove”). Doublet of Colombo. The common noun and verb are references to the Italian explorer.

Meanings

1. (dated, possibly, slang) To explore; to go around exploring, to go around as an explorer.
   • No street car line passes it, so you'll have to do a little Columbusing on your own account-to find it-—but it's worth discovering, and President Gardner's phophecy sounds conservative. 1921, Forest Leaves, volume 15, page lxx:
   • To the west of the river lay the country in which I went Columbusing — the enchanted desert whose southern boundary was where the sky reached down and merged with the earth curve, and whose northern limit was the Harqua Hala range […] 1908, Sunset, volume 20, page 271:
   • Callous as the old mummy was about anything and everything save his pet hobby, archaeology, he would sit up and take notice of such a vision ; and Peter felt that, having Columbused the discovery, he had the better right to it. 1908, Out West, volume 28, page 90:
   • "But, boy the powers of mud, I belayve you fellers mane to make an indepindint cruise in the Orient, and go Columbusing all over the ocean boy the way ye's talk!" 1893, American Boys Afloat: Or, Cruising in the Orient, page 150:
2. (US, derogatory, slang) To appropriate; to lay claim to something, especially a discovery, which is perceived as belonging to someone else.
   • He then lists other things that have been Columbused, such as twerking by Miley Cyrus and hummus by “health conscious whities.” 2015, Frederic Charles Schaffer, Elucidating Social Science Concepts, Routledge, →ISBN, page 54:
   • When his black friend tells him that many people knew about the bar before he did, his white friend retorts by saying that he “Columbused it”; i.e., discovered it for white people before a gaggle of hip white people flooded in. 2014, Justin Simien, Dear White People, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 97:
   • If you've danced to an Afrobeat-heavy pop song, dipped hummus, sipped coconut water, participated in a Desi-inspired color run or sported a henna tattoo, then you've Columbused something. […] Sometimes, though, Columbusing can feel icky. […] Of course, there is no bouncer, but we can be careful not to Columbus other culture's traditions. 2014 July 6, Brenda Salinas, “‘Columbusing’: The Art Of Discovering Something That Is Not New”, in NPR, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2020:

Forms

Columbus en · PROPN · etymology 2

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Meanings

1. (form-of, plural) plural of Columbu
   form of Columbu