Etymograph

English

columella

Columella comes from Latin columella ‘small column’, from culmen ‘a pillar, top, crown, summit’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kelH- ‘to rise, be tall’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelH-1‘to rise, be tall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kolamen1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEculmen2‘a pillar, top, crown, summit’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolumna3‘column, pillar’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolumella4‘small column’
  6. Englishtodaycolumella4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin culmen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin columna
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin columella
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English columella

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelH-Wiktionary, Latin culmen‘to rise, be tall’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kolamenWiktionary, Latin culmenreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEculmenWiktionary, Latin columna‘a pillar, top, crown, summit’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolumnaWiktionary, Latin columella‘column, pillar’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolumellaWiktionary, English columella‘small column’
  6. EnglishtodaycolumellaWiktionary, English columella

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kelH- ‘to rise, be tall’

hill, excellent, excellence, hale, excellency, culminate, excelsior, holm, 9 more

through Latin culmen ‘a pillar, top, crown, summit’

culmination, 7 more

through Latin columna ‘column, pillar’

colonel, colonnade, 4 more

Today it means

noun Any of various small structures in plants or animals that are columnar in shape.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “columella”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin culmen, Latin columna, Latin columella. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kelH- / columella

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