Columbine

Columbine
/kol"euhm buyn'/, n.
1. a female character in commedia dell'arte and pantomime: sweetheart of Harlequin.
2. a female given name.
[1720-30; < It Columbina lit., dovelike girl; see COLUMBINE2]

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Any of approximately 70 species of perennial herbaceous plants constituting the genus Aquilegia, in the buttercup family, native to Europe and North America.

They are distinctive for their five-petaled flowers with long, backward-extending spurs. Sepals and petals are brightly coloured. A. caerulea and A. chysantha are native to the Rocky Mountains. The wild columbine of North America (A. canadensis), bearing red flowers with touches of yellow, grows in woods and on rocky ledges from southern Canada southward. Many garden hybrids are cultivated for their showy flowers.

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▪ stock theatre character
Italian  Colombina,  
 stock theatrical character that originated about 1530 in Italian commedia dell'arte as a saucy and adroit servant girl; her Italian name means “Little Dove.” Her costume included a cap and apron but seldom a commedia mask, and she usually spoke in the Tuscan dialect. In French theatre the character became a lady's maid and intrigant and assumed a variety of roles opposite Cassandre, Pantalone (Pantaloon), Harlequin, and Pierrot. In English comedies she was usually the daughter or ward of Pantaloon and in love with Harlequin. The soubrette of the 20th-century musical comedy is a version of the Columbine character.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • Columbine — Студийный альбом Ауры Дион …   Википедия

  • Columbine — steht für: Columbine (Colorado), eine Stadt im US Bundesstaat Colorado Columbine High School, eine Highschool in der Nähe von Littleton, Colorado, USA, in der das Schulmassaker von Littleton stattfand Bowling for Columbine, ein satirischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Columbine — Col um*bine, n. [LL. columbina, L. columbinus dovelike, fr. columba dove: cf. F. colombine. Perh. so called from the beaklike spurs of its flowers.] 1. (Bot.) A plant of several species of the genus {Aquilegia}; as, {Aquilegia vulgaris}, or the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Columbine — Columbine, CO U.S. Census Designated Place in Colorado Population (2000): 24095 Housing Units (2000): 8800 Land area (2000): 6.638409 sq. miles (17.193399 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.130717 sq. miles (0.338556 sq. km) Total area (2000): 6.769126 …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Columbine, CO — U.S. Census Designated Place in Colorado Population (2000): 24095 Housing Units (2000): 8800 Land area (2000): 6.638409 sq. miles (17.193399 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.130717 sq. miles (0.338556 sq. km) Total area (2000): 6.769126 sq. miles (17 …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • columbine — c.1300, from O.Fr. columbine columbine, or directly from M.L. columbina, from L.L. columbina verbena, fem. of L. columbinus, lit. dove like, from columba dove. The inverted flower supposedly resembles a cluster of five doves. Also a fem. proper… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Columbine — Col um*bine, a. [L. columbinus, fr. columba dove.] Of or pertaining to a dove; dovelike; dove colored. Columbine innocency. Bacon. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Columbine — f English: from Italian Colombitia, a diminutive of Colombo ‘dove’. In the tradition of the commedia dell arte this is the name of Harlequin s sweetheart. The modern name, however, was probably coined independently as one of the class of names… …   First names dictionary

  • Columbine — puede referirse a: Una ciudad de Colorado, Estados Unidos. El nombre de una escuela secundaria en el Condado de Jefferson, Colorado, Estados Unidos (cerca de Littleton), tristemente famosa por la matanza que tuvo lugar el 20 de abril de 1999. Los …   Wikipedia Español

  • Columbine — puede ser: ● Una ciudad de Colorado, Estados Unidos. ● El nombre de una escuela secundaria en el Condado de Jefferson, Colorado, Estados Unidos (cerca de Littleton), tristemente famosa por la matanza que tuvo lugar el 20 de abril de 1999, 110º… …   Enciclopedia Universal

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