* * *
I. — see com-
II. combining form
or coli- or colo-
1. : large intestine
colitis
colostomy
2. : colon bacillus
coliform
* * *
col-1var. of com- before l: collateral.
col-2
var. of colo- before a vowel: colectomy.
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1. a marked depression in a ridge or mountain chain, usually forming a pass from one slope to the other.
2. Meteorology. a) an area between two anticyclones. b) the intersection of a trough and a wedge.
col-,
col.,
an abbreviation for the following:
1. collected.
2. collector.
3. college.
4. colonel.
5. a) colonial. b) colony.
6. a) color. b) colored.
7. column.
Col.,
an abbreviation for the following:
1. Colombia.
2. Colonel.
3. Colorado (official abbr: Colo.).
4. Colossians (a book of the New Testament).
* * *
* * *
col-assimilated form of the prefix com-, con-, before l; not used in the earliest L., which had con-, but afterwards regular, and so in modern Romanic and Eng., as L. conloquium, colloquium, colloquy. For the general signification, see
As in the case of the parallel forms com- and con-, Latin words in coll- were in Pr., Sp., OFr., and early ME., reduced to col-, as in L. collecta, OF. coleite, ME. colet; so colacion, colege. With the revival of learning this was altered back to coll-; but only one l is sounded, and the unaccented syllable is apt to remain (kəʊ-) or (kə-); there is, however, usually an effort to show the effect of the l upon the vowel, when rhetorical or distinctive stress is put on the first syllable: i.e., the full (kɒl-) may be developed under stress.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.