English Explanatory Dictionary

columbiad

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A 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.
name
  1. 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.

Word forms

columbiad columbiads

Etymology

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.

Related words

Rodman gun Columbia Columbiana
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