Definition of colon

The word "colon" comes from the Greek word "κόλον" (kolón), which means "stem" or "trunk". In ancient Greek medicine, the colon referred to the large intestine. The term was later adopted in Latin as "colōn", and in English, it originally referred to the large intestine as well. In the 16th century, the term "colon" began to be used in navigation to refer to the "colon" or "straight line" that a ship sailed. This usage is thought to have derived from the idea that the ship was following a straight route, like a stem or trunk. In the 17th century, the punctuation mark :| was introduced, and it was called the "colon" because it resembled a stem or trunk. Today, the word "colon" has multiple meanings, including the punctuation mark, the large intestine, and a prefix indicating a relationship between two words or phrases.