Meanings
columbiad1
plural columbiads
- historicalgovernmentA form of cannon from the 19th century, mostly used for seacoast protection. It is a large-caliber, smoothbore, muzzle-loading cannon designed for launching shot or shells with heavy charges of powder, at both high and low angles of elevation.
Columbiad2
- An epic story about the settling of North America by European colonizers in the region that is now the United States of America; and its mythologized growth and development.
Origin
columbiad · noun
From Columbia (“the United States”).The term was first used for a type of cannon employed at Fort Columbus on Governor's Island in New York in 1808.
Full word history & related roots →Columbiad · proper noun
- ItalianColombo
- LatinColumbus“surname”
- Ancient GreekἸλιάς
- EnglishColumbiad
From Columbia (“the United States”) + -iad (“epic tale”). From Iliad (“the Homeric tale of the Trojan War”), from Ancient Greek Ἰλιάς (Iliás), from -άς (-ás). From Columbia (“the feminine form of America”), from Columbus (“Christopher Columbus”), from Latin Columbus (“surname”), from Italian Colombo, from colombo (“pigeon”).
More words from Ancient Greek, Latin, Italian
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
columbiad. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/columbiad
“columbiad.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/columbiad. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “columbiad,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/columbiad.
Source: columbiad on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.